SouthwoldArt: an antique copper tinder box dating from about 1760.  The box has a loop handle, candle socket and removable lid enclosing a compartment within for tinder, fire-steel and flint.  A flint, charcloth tinder, and a later homemade steel are included.  This box has candle wax residue, and the copper sheet is nicely patinated.  The condition is very sound, and the piece can be used as an interesting candle holder, chamberstick or box.

A tinder box, is a container made of wood (generally oak) or metal containing flint, firesteel and tinder (typically charcloth, but possibly a small quantity of dry, finely divided fibrous matter such as hemp), used together to help kindle a fire.  Tinder boxes fell out of general usage when friction matches were invented by one John Walker in 1827. The charcloth was fabric made from vegetable fibre (e.g. cotton, linen, or jute) which had previously been charred via pyrolisis (that's decomposition brought about by high temperature), giving it the low ignition temperature and slow burning characteristics suitable for use as tinder. Rotten wood, known as touchwood (that's right...he was Catweazle's pet toad), was also used, as well as amadou (that's a a spongy substance prepared from fungi, Polyporus (Fomes) fomentarius and allied species, growing on trees, used as tinder and in surgery), which was a tinder prepared from fungus steeped in potassium nitrate (saltpetre) and dried.  This is much more fun than a box of matches?

In use the flint was struck in a vigorous downward motion against the steel, sending a shower of sparks into the tinder which was arranged in the bottom of the box. The sparks (actually pieces of burning steel broken off by the harder flint) created very small embers as they fell onto the charcloth, the glow of which, with some gentle blowing, would be enough to ignite a sulphur tipped wooden splint. The splint could then be carried to a candle, often set in a holder on the top of the box as per this example, and finally the cloth would be extinguished with a damper or fingers to preserve it for further use.  With skill, a fire could be started in under a minute, but at other times it took longer and occasionally a tiny pinch of gunpowder (please don't try this at home) was added to encourage the process.

In the 18th and early 19th century tinder boxes were in common use, but with the advent of John Walker's 'friction lights' in 1827, where a match could be struck by withdrawing it from a piece of folded glass or sand paper, tinderboxes increasingly became obsolete. 

N.B. I pack and ship pictures using professional custom-made wooden (not card-board) boxes - these take me a little time to prepare dependent on demand, but I'll do my utmost to meet your delivery requirements.  I will keep you posted in the event of delay; some couriers have been less than prompt of late.