Antique brassware has been one of my most popular areas of collecting for as long as I can remember. I just love the golden glow of brass, the aging, the patina…it’s something you don’t usually get with the flat, white, sterile look of steel – stainless, or otherwise.

Brass, for those who don’t know, is an alloy metal – a mixture of copper, and zinc, with a majority of copper, and minority of zinc. The zinc gives the copper strength, but also the famous, glossy, golden shine that brass is famous for.

For centuries, brass had been the metal of choice for manufacturing all kinds of things, from doorknobs to cookware, fire-irons to padlocks and keys. The reason for this is quite simple – brass doesn’t rust.

This robust and relatively easily-maintained metal was therefore ideal for a wide range of applications where steel or iron was inappropriate. It’s why, for example, you see a lot of brassware on old ships – porthole frames, bells, wheelhouse mechanisms, etc – because it could be exposed to the wet and cold out at sea, without rusting like steel would. All that had to be done to keep it serviceable was the occasional polish.

It was all these qualities of brass – its strength, it’s ability to resist rust, and its relatively low maintenance to achieve a beautiful, glossy shine, that made brass the ideal material for manufacturing food containers – in particular – tiffin carriers.

What is a Tiffin Carrier?

A tiffin carrier, or tiffin box, is a food storage and transport container made out of stackable compartments, held together in a rigid frame with a carry-handle on top. They’re usually made of brass, or enameled steel (or in modern times, also stainless steel). They’re descended from the stackable bowls and baskets (made of bamboo) used in China for centuries, for storing, transporting, and even cooking food.

The modern tiffin carrier was invented in the 1800s, and is named after the Anglo-Indian slang word for ‘lunch’ or ‘afternoon tea’ – ‘Tiffin’! That’s because these stackable metal containers became popular as lunchboxes for transporting things like curry, rice, noodles, dumplings and other delicious treats safely and comfortably when going to work. The separate compartments kept the various food-components apart from each other – after all, you don’t want your naan bread or roti getting soggy from the curry, and you don’t want your sweet tarts smelling like last night’s leftover beef, do you?

Tiffin carriers ranged in size, from one or two compartments, to up to half a dozen or more! The standard size is between 3-4 compartments, with three being the most common.

My New Brass Tiffin Carrier!

I’ve always wanted a brass tiffin carrier that I could always – y’know – use! I just find the steel ones so boring, and the enamel ones aren’t always as attractive as I’d like them to be. After weighing up my options between buying an antique and getting one new, I decided to bite the bullet and get a new one instead. For what is, essentially – an old lunchbox – antique tiffin carriers – either in brass, or enameled steel – are surprisingly expensive! $200-$300+ (and that doesn’t include the postage!) is really common for the old brass ones…and easily 3-4 times that price for the enamel ones!

After a bit of digging, I found a website that sold really, really nice Indian-made domestic brassware products. In case you don’t know, India is really famous for making brassware. If you ever want nice brassware – bowls, cups, candlesticks, etc…buy it from India. Antique Indian brassware is also really nice – but like I said – can also be really expensive! So I went modern, instead. The site was also having a big end-of-year sale, so I ended up with a nearly 70% discount!

The carrier I ended up buying was identical to the antique brass tiffin carriers made in India 100+ years ago, in every single respect – so I got an antique-quality piece of brassware with the benefit of modern manufacturing – and for a fraction of what it would’ve cost to buy it secondhand! Having bought an antique brass one in the past, I know how much they cost!

The Parts of the Carrier

So, what are the various component parts of the tiffin carrier? How are they used?

Every tiffin carrier has three basic components: The compartments, the lid, and the rack, or frame, that holds it all together. The compartments, or bowls, are recessed, so that they stack neatly, one on top of the other. In most instances, which order you stack the compartments in is irrelevant, but in some models (such as mine), there is a specific top-compartment, which always goes on last (what order you stack the other ones in really doesn’t matter).

The reason for this is because second component, the lid, has to be firmly fitted on top. On mine, the lid was flat, but on some carriers, the lids also held little storage compartments of their own (usually used for things like spices or chili sauce, etc). Most tiffin carrier lids are designed to be flipped over so that you can use them as plates!

The third component of any good tiffin carrier is the frame or rack that holds everything together. These vary greatly in design, depending on the age and style of the carrier. Mine was made up of a simple circular base-plate, and two hinged brass straps on the side, with a hinged handle on top, and a hinged pin and latch to hold everything shut.

For extra security, the latch that holds the frame shut even comes with a set of holes punched through it – this is for you to slip a padlock around the frame, or even just tie some string or a piece of wire to hold the latch shut. You don’t need to, of course, and the frame holds together just fine without it, but this padlock-hole in the security latch is a common feature in a lot of antique tiffin carriers.

I mean hey, you don’t want some jackass stealing your candy-bar, do you?

How Do You Use It?

It’s easy, really. You swing out the latch, you open the frame, and then you take out the compartments and fill them with food. Tiffin carriers are designed to carry “bulk” foods – stuff like rice, pasta, and noodles. If your carrier is large enough, you can also put sandwiches and stuff in there, but they’re not really designed for that. But if you’re taking leftover spaghetti and meatballs, or leftover Chinese food or last night’s sushi for lunch at the office – a tiffin carrier is great for that!

You fill each compartment with food until it’s just below the top, stack it into the frame, and then pop the other compartments on top, put the lid on and then close it. Just keep in mind that tiffin carriers can be heavy, even before you fill it with lunch! Mine weighed 1.44kg (approx 3lbs) completely empty!

Purchasing Antique Brass Tiffin Carriers

For my early Christmas present, I bought myself a brand-new brass carrier, built to antique specifications and with a solid tin lining on the interior, just like grandma used to make! Mmm-mmm!

But – what if you actually want to buy a REAL antique brass tiffin carrier – like the ones that grandma actually used? Can you do that, too?

Hell yeah! But there’s a lot of things to consider, first.

First and foremost – the price. Antique tiffin carriers are expensive! $200 – $500+, depending on condition, style, how fancy they are. And that doesn’t include postage (remember, these things are heavy!).

Just like bored kids in the schoolyard playground, our ancestors were also huge fans of pimping up their lunchboxes, and you better bet they did a good job of it! That extra decorations (which can be anything from engravings to flowery embossing, or even painting or gold-leafing on the fancy enamel carriers) can drive the prices WAAAY up because of how rare they can be. The more elaborate the decorations, the more expensive the carrier becomes.

Most modern steel carriers cost a pittance. You can find them in shops all over Asia=, and they can be bought online for a song. As I’ve already proven – you can buy a modern brass carrier for a fraction of what the antique ones cost! So if you do want to buy an antique one – be prepared to spend. A lot!

The second most important thing to pay attention to is the condition of the brass itself.

The good thing about brass is that it doesn’t rust, but it can, in rare instances, corrode. This is usually caused by ammonia, or by acids, and in really bad cases, brass can flat-out just crack and shatter!…you don’t want that.

If your brass has cracked, then it’s best to keep searching.

Another really common condition issue is denting. Remember, antique brass tiffin carriers were used every single day – for decades. They were, quite literally – used hard, and put away wet. Because of this, denting is a really common problem. Fortunately, brass is fairly malleable. With a few good hammer-strikes and the right amount of padding, most dents that you can hit, you can pop back out or smooth over. Ideally you want to avoid doing this at all, but if you don’t mind it, then the prices can drop a bit.

The third thing to pay attention to is the frame or rack that holds the carrier together. These are often just made of bent flat strips of brass or steel, which have been shaped into position. The problem is that just as easily as they can be bent into shape, they can also be bent out of shape!

Make sure that any antique brass tiffin carriers you buy have frames which are in good condition. No cracking, no warping, bending or kinking. If the frame isn’t centered and straight, then it’s not going to hold everything together properly, and the last thing you want is the whole damn thing falling apart the moment you pick it up – that’s generally not a good sign. Some frames can be bent back into shape if they’ve been a little kinked-up, but severe damage should be avoided.

The final thing to pay attention to is the interior lining.

As I said – brass tiffin carriers are always lined inside the compartments with a solid coating of inert metal – almost always either tin, or nickel. This is to prevent the brass from corroding when in contact with acidic foods, and leeching out unpleasant toxins. So long as the lining is intact, the carrier is safe to eat from. If it isn’t, or if it’s wearing really thin, then it’s time to either keep searching, or else – if you want to – pay to the get the lining redone.

Can you re-tin antique brassware all on your own? Absolutely! In fact, here’s an Instructable on how to do it, if you can find all the materials that you’ll need.

In short: Any antique brass tiffin carrier you buy should be in solid, workable condition. All the pieces should fit together smoothly, the frame should hold everything together without rattling or shaking, and should be straight and without damage. The inside of the brass containers should be solidly lined with tin. If they aren’t, either keep searching, or purchase the antique carrier with a view to getting the interiors re-tinned.

Concluding Remarks

So – what are my final thoughts on this latest addition to my brassware collection?

Well: It’s solid, well-built, is really robust, and is large enough to hold a decent amount of food without being excessively bulky. It opens easily, but also closes really securely, and has the option of being locked, if you want it – which isn’t a feature found on most modern tiffin carriers – or on modern lunchboxes in general!

It has all the vintage styling that one could want, with none of the disadvantages of buying an actual antique, such as high prices, restoration, or checking for damage. And even when it isn’t being used, it’s still a really nice piece of home decor – which is not something you could say of…say…a thermos flask.

All in all, a great product.