Curious Objects : Tobacco stopper

Curious Objects

<p style='text-align: justify;'>In the 1750s the Reverend Francis Gastrell cut down the mulberry tree supposedly planted by Shakespeare at New Place, Stratford-upon-Avon, having grown tired of tourists asking to see it. The second half of the eighteenth century saw a brisk trade in souvenir objects claimed to be made of wood from Shakespeare’s tree. Tobacco stoppers such as this were common and were used for pressing down tobacco in a pipe.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'> <iframe width="600" height="480" src="https://sketchfab.com/models/a8d8b6460c724b389bb086ec30839ecc/embed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" webkitallowfullscreen="true" onmousewheel=""></iframe> <br /><a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://sketchfab.com/models/a8d8b6460c724b389bb086ec30839ecc?utm_medium=embed&utm_source=website&utm_campain=share-popup'>Tobacco stopper</a> by <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://sketchfab.com/CamDigLib?utm_medium=embed&utm_source=website&utm_campain=share-popup'>Cambridge Digital Library</a> on <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://sketchfab.com?utm_medium=embed&utm_source=website&utm_campain=share-popup'>Sketchfab</a></p><p style='text-align: justify;'>It is one of many objects later added to the cabinet of ‘Oriental’ manuscripts and curiosities presented by George Lewis in 1726. Its provenance is unknown. In 1817 the Library was given a piece of mulberry wood from Shakespeare’s tree, but this was a different item and was later donated to the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre museum in Stratford.</p>