Presentation gold box commemorating SS 'Liverpool', 1838.

18 carat rectangular gold snuff box, the lid engraved with a portrait of the paddle steamer SS 'Liverpool' based on a contemporary lithograph by John Isaac. It has a hinged lid, engine-turned decoration on the sides and base, and flowers and foliage in relief round edges. Below the ship is inscribed 'LIVERPOOL' and inside the lid: 'Presented to Captain Fayrer RN of the Steam Ship Liverpool by the Passengers on board during her first Voyage FROM NEW YORK to LIVERPOOL As a token of their esteem and regard, and acknowledgment of his kind attention to their comforts during the Passage DEC: MDCCCXXXVIII'.

The box was presented to Captain Robert Fayrer after SS 'Liverpool's transatlantic crossing in 1838. This was the first crossing by a two-funnelled paddle steamer, only a year after the 'Sirius' had completed the first crossing under continuous steam power. The 240-foot 'Liverpool' was built in 1837 by Humble and Milcrest of Liverpool and purchased by the newly-formed Transatlantic Steamship Company for their Liverpool and New York service.

Captain Fayrer had previously served in the Royal Navy. In 1840 the vessel was renamed 'Great Liverpool' after the firm had merged with the young P & O Company. Six years later she was wrecked on a reef near Cape Finisterre.