Kelsey Davis\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n
We\u2019re living in the age of supplements<\/a>. Within the wellness space, the global market for dietary aids, preventative care and so-called functional ingredients is in a period of extraordinarily rapid growth, with the sector predicted to nearly double to US$393-billion by 2033, according to a recent Grand View Research report. Add in mealtime medications from Lacteez to Metformin, capsules promising to boost brain and gut health, and immune support tablets, and it\u2019s not unusual for a pill container or two to make an appearance on the table at mealtime. <\/p>\n Increasingly, what emerges is not the colourful, compartmented plastic organizer you pick up at the drugstore, but something altogether more stylish and conversation starting. My current carrier is thrifted: an inscribed steel sewing needle case handed out as a promotion by now-defunct Hamilton, Ont., clothier Begg & Co. Easily a century old, it holds a few days\u2019 worth of digestive aids. These cases can also take the form of a repurposed rouge compact or a locket like the one I sourced online, created by the Canadian jewellery house Birks.<\/p>\n The tiny, hinged cases are sized to discreetly slip in a pocket or handbag but have enough presence next to your bread plate to prompt dinner party intrigue. Just as the legalization of cannabis inspired designers like Jonathan Adler and Edie Park to offer elevated pot paraphernalia, supplement carriers are popping up in jewellery collections and decorative arts auctions to chicly stash an ever-growing array of caplets.<\/p>\n The high heel debate: Empowering, performative or oppressive?<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cPeople have so many supplements and pills to take, I thought it would be nice to revitalize the old fashioned \u2018pill box,\u2019\u201d designer Sophie Campbell says of the impetus behind the whimsical Sweetie boxes she added to her accessories and homeware brand Tooka London. Launched at Christmas, the brass novelties shaped like wrapped candies have proven so popular that she\u2019s now developing a whole range. <\/p>\n Pill boxes \u2013 also known as snuff boxes or patch boxes \u2013 have a history dating back centuries. Initially they were used to carry medicinal powders or pills and often crafted with precious metals, intricate designs and gemstones to convey status. When tobacco was adopted by European elites in the late 17th century, these cases were filled with it as a crushed powder that was inhaled up the nose (hence: \u201csnuff\u201d). <\/p>\n Bill Kime, senior specialist in the Decorative Arts department at Waddington\u2019s in Toronto is both an expert on and an enthusiast of the niche category, which will be well-represented in the house\u2019s sale on June 11. Its auctions regularly feature trinket, snuff and pill boxes, as well as vinaigrettes, tiny, hinged cases with a grille-covered cavity to hold a sponge soaked in vinegar or perfume that was used to mask unpleasant odours or revive anyone feeling faint.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the 18th and 19th century, the well-to-do who had the wherewithal would carry little boxes around in their pockets with various things,\u201d Kime says. This included pricey spices. \u201cWe\u2019ll see from time to time a nutmeg grater, for instance, shaped like a little walnut,\u201d he says. \u201cSomebody would have an affectation to pull that out at dinner and put nutmeg all over their food \u2013 quirky behaviour but it would also indicate wealth.\u201d<\/p>\n The ubiquitous monobloc chair and its Canadian origin story<\/a><\/p>\n There\u2019s a steady supply of these tiny objets, Kime adds, and they attract collectors because of their one-off appeal. Some examples can earn an extravagant gavel price (a Faberg\u00e9 jewelled, enamel and silver gilt bonbonniere recently sold at Christie\u2019s for close to US$10,000) but Kime says many unique pieces go for under $100.<\/p>\n From its founding in 1830, elaborate bonbonni\u00e8re and trinket boxes have been a signature of Christofle in Paris. Similarly, Tiffany & Co. once offered tiny, hinged sterling silver pillbox apples, eggs and wonderfully realistic textured walnuts, and still produces the sinuous sterling silver Elsa Peretti Bean pillbox, its interior resplendent in 18-karat yellow gold. The nautilus shell is another popular silversmith shape that was exquisitely revived by Los Angeles jewellery designer Sophie Buhai in her sculptural miniature pill box.<\/p>\n Like a riff on poison pill pendants of the Gilded Age, artist Karen Cheung of Kerchung recently started making pill box pendants (she stores Citalopram in hers). \u201cThere\u2019s no shame in medicating!\u201d she declared in an Instagram post, with commenters chiming in that they\u2019d be using theirs for beta blockers, Prozac and Wellbutrin.<\/p>\n Whatever they contain, there\u2019s something innately appealing about design in miniature, Kime says. \u201cIt\u2019s not like a tea set. Often the makers will try and imbue a bit of humour or extra interest into the object. They have a permission to do that on little personal items. And of course, that appeals to the buyers \u2013 the users \u2013 because they take on a little box with personality.\u201d <\/p>\n A selection of antique snuff, trinket and novelty boxes from Waddington\u2019s June 11 auction (waddingtons.ca).<\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n Courtesy Tiffany & Co\/Supplied<\/p>\n Elsa Peretti Bean design pillbox in sterling silver and yellow gold, $3,550 at Tiffany & Co. (tiffany.ca).<\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n Ace Of Diamonds bonbonni\u00e8re trinket box, $265 at Christofle (christofle.com).<\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n Sophie Buhai handcrafted Nautilus miniature pill box, US$11,000 through sophiebuhai.com.<\/p>\n