Almost wholly reliant on slavery, the tobacco industry was the subtle target of British Abolitionists 50 years before Britain outlawed slavery and nearly a century before the American Civil War.
This 5½in (14cm) wide cast-iron tobacco box, left, offered at Halls (23% buyer’s premium) at Shrewsbury on May 1, is modelled with a kneeling figure in chains above the word Humanity. The finial to an extra internal cover was dated July 28, 1774.