Stylish pill boxes are so hot right now | Canada Voices

We’re living in the age of supplements. 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’s not unusual for a pill container or two to make an appearance on the table at mealtime.

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’ 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.

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.

“People have so many supplements and pills to take, I thought it would be nice to revitalize the old fashioned ‘pill box,’” 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’s now developing a whole range.

Pill boxes – also known as snuff boxes or patch boxes – 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: “snuff”).

Bill Kime, senior specialist in the Decorative Arts department at Waddington’s in Toronto is both an expert on and an enthusiast of the niche category, which will be well-represented in the house’s 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.

“In the 18th and 19th century, the well-to-do who had the wherewithal would carry little boxes around in their pockets with various things,” Kime says. This included pricey spices. “We’ll see from time to time a nutmeg grater, for instance, shaped like a little walnut,” he says. “Somebody would have an affectation to pull that out at dinner and put nutmeg all over their food – quirky behaviour but it would also indicate wealth.”

There’s 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 Fabergé jewelled, enamel and silver gilt bonbonniere recently sold at Christie’s for close to US$10,000) but Kime says many unique pieces go for under $100.

From its founding in 1830, elaborate bonbonnière 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.

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). “There’s no shame in medicating!” she declared in an Instagram post, with commenters chiming in that they’d be using theirs for beta blockers, Prozac and Wellbutrin.

Whatever they contain, there’s something innately appealing about design in miniature, Kime says. “It’s 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 – the users – because they take on a little box with personality.”

A selection of antique snuff, trinket and novelty boxes from Waddington’s June 11 auction (waddingtons.ca).

Elsa Peretti Bean design pillbox in sterling silver and yellow gold, $3,550 at Tiffany & Co. (tiffany.ca).

Ace Of Diamonds bonbonnière trinket box, $265 at Christofle (christofle.com).

Sophie Buhai handcrafted Nautilus miniature pill box, US$11,000 through sophiebuhai.com.

Alessi stainless steel Chestnut box by Gabriele Chiave and Lorenza Bozzoli, $60 at 313 Design Market (313designmarket.com).

Tooka London Sweetie pillbox, £35 through tooka.co.uk.