A GEORGE III MAHOGANY SPICE-BOX

The interior is fitted to take spices, a rare and valuable commodity in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, which were customarily concealed in a locked cabinet. The spices listed are: NUTMEGS, JAM (= Jamaica); PEPPER, *B (= black) PEPPER, CINAMON [sic], *MACE:, CLOVES; BLUE; S:PETRE (saltpetre) &c.; RICE; FRUITS & c. It is impossible to know whether the curious punctuation is simply decorative, however it might be that the asterisks next to 'black pepper' and 'mace' is to note their heat.