1779 Engraved, "D. Cobb" Exquisitely Engine-Turned with Armorial Medallion Engraved London Hallmarked Oval Silver Snuff Box, a member of General George Washington’s close Aide-de-Camp “Family”, Accompanied by an extensive extraordinary Cobb Family packet of documentary Provenance, Extremely Fine.
This handsome, highly ornately Engraved Silver Snuff Box, measuring 3 long x 2.75 wide x 1.25 Inches deep, is impressively Engraved, "D. Cobb" on the smooth interior of the silver top lid. This snuff box bears fully struck London hallmarks including the lion passant, leopard's head, the maker’s mark of engraver silversmith William Simmons, and a date letter for 1779. The box is of graceful oval form, its lid beautifully engine-turned within a border of laurel and extensive scrollwork, centered on an oval medallion at top center depicting an Eagle grasping an Olive Branch, a Torch, and a Quiver of Arrows, beneath a Ribboned Crest, with a matching engine-turned band carried gracefully fully around the sides as shown.

The decorative engraving ties this exceptional museum quality silver snuff box directly to David Cobb (1748-1830), the celebrated historic Massachusetts Physician, Patriot, and Revolutionary War Hero who served with distinction as a friend and Aide-de-Camp to General George Washington from 1781 to 1783. David Cobb was standing at Washington's side through the climactic Siege of Yorktown and the Revolutionary War's triumphant conclusion. Such a silver snuff box of this quality and “1779” hallmark date stamp, being personally engraved "D. Cobb", would have served both as a functional personal accessory and as a mark of the gentlemanly stature Cobb carried throughout his long and distinguished career in service to the young nation.

This snuff box is accompanied by a remarkable archive of Cobb family provenance material, offering rare and direct documentation of this Revolutionary hero's life and legacy. The archive includes an Autograph Letter Signed by David Cobb, identifying him as "A.D.C. to Washington" (Aide-de-Camp), a detailed typed genealogical summary of his Revolutionary War service annotated in period pencil with particulars of his role as Aide-de-Camp, and evocative 18th-century manuscript legal documents pertaining to the Cobb family of Taunton and Bristol County, Massachusetts, dated 1743 and 1778. Cobb served as an Aide-de-Camp to General Washington from June 15, 1781 to January 1783, and again from June to December 23, 1783. This made him one of a small, trusted circle of officers who lived and worked inside Washington's own headquarters, what contemporaries called Washington's "family”.

The silver snuff box presents in choice condition with only slight surface wear and minor scattered light scratches to the interior consistent with age and honorable actual use. Its hallmarks and the large engraved inscription "D. Cobb" remain perfectly clear, sharp and legible, this unique item being a lasting testament to a true American Patriot.


David Cobb was born September 14, 1748, in Attleborough, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard College in 1766, studied medicine in Boston, and then practiced medicine in Taunton, Massachusetts. When the American Revolution broke out, he was a physician in his late twenties who initially served the war effort in that capacity.

Cobb joined the state militia as a regimental surgeon for the first two years of the fighting. He was a member of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress in 1775, then served as lieutenant colonel of Henry Jackson's regiment in 1777 and 1778, seeing action in Rhode Island and New Jersey, this put him at engagements including the Battle of Monmouth, the Battle of Springfield, and the Battle of Rhode Island.

Cobb served as an Aide-de-Camp to General Washington from June 15, 1781 to January 1783, and again from June to December 23, 1783. This made him one of a small, trusted circle of officers who lived and worked inside Washington's own headquarters, what contemporaries called Washington's "family.

His time as aide-de-camp included the victory at Yorktown, after which Cobb accompanied Washington on a brief visit to Mount Vernon to celebrate the American triumph. When Washington resigned his commission to Congress at Annapolis, aides David Humphreys, David Cobb, and Benjamin Walker were the ones who escorted him to and from the ceremony, a fairly small, symbolically weighty role at the very end of the Revolutionary War.

Cobb was admitted as an Original Member of the Society of the Cincinnati in Massachusetts at the war's conclusion, the veterans' organization Washington himself served as first President-general of. He was also a charter member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, founded in 1780.

Appointed major general of Massachusetts militia in 1786, where he played a conspicuous role suppressing Shays' Rebellion, a moment often cited as helping build the case for a stronger federal government under the Constitution. Member and speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, 1789-1793. Elected to Congress from Massachusetts, serving in the Third Congress, 1793-1795.

David Cobb moved to the District of Maine in 1796, later served in the Massachusetts Senate representing the eastern (Maine) district and became its President, and was elected to the Massachusetts Council in 1808. He also went on to become Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts and worked as the resident land agent for William Bingham's large Maine land holdings.

Cobb died April 17, 1830.