french silver and enamel box

[antiquv]

hello
i wanted to ask about this box,
it is high quality piece, and its marked, can you help me with date and maker ?
the makers mark is LB with something in the middle

[JayT]

Hello
This is an interesting box. The design motif on the lid, which you show upside down, is Turkish tourgha, about which I don’t know much. I’m sure more knowledgeable members can tell you about this.

The mark you show of the head of Hippocrates facing right in a six-sided reserve, is the mark for 750 standard gold, used from 1838-1919. If the initials in the lozenge shaped reserve are LB (rather than LT), then the maker MIGHT be Lucien-Louis Bouclier, a jeweller working in Paris at 3 Place de Thorigny. His working dates are 1862-1889. His symbol is a wax seal (un poinçon de
nécessaire).

See Arminjon, v. II, no. 02818, p.260.

[Aguest]

I assume the diamonds are "old mine-cut" diamonds, but I could be wrong as I do not have a lot of diamond knowledge, but I notice two diamonds have slight coloration in them.

"The mine cut diamond is shaped into a high crown with a small table, a round to somewhat rectangular girdle, a deep pavilion and a large faceted culet. The cut was the earliest form of the brilliant cut, which means that the diamond was cut to allow the stone to sparkle under even the dimmest candlelight of the era."

It would be interesting to know more about the Tugra.

[AG2012]

Hi,
Tughra is upside down.The name of the sultan is written in the bottom section, therefore not clearly seen here.
How are applications (diamonds) fixed?
Riveted - something like this (inside the lid view) ?



I would not be surprised if the applications were made by an Ottoman jeweler, not by a French maker for Turkish market,
The same practice was seen in pocket watches.
Regards

[Zilver2]

Hi,
In my opinion the letters are LT, which are the characters for the silversmith Louis Theodore, active during the period 1858-1864 at 101 rue Saint Louis, Paris (Marais).
N° de garantie : 6415; 6820
N° de prefecture : 6603; 7015
Symbol : a theorbo, a musical instrument (un théorbe)
Mark entered 1) 2 April 1858 and 2) 16 November 1860
Mark cancelled 2) :7 September 1864

[Aguest]

Yes I think it is "a theorbo" now that I researched what a theorbo is.

[antiquv]

Hello
After making some research on the makers of this kind of boxes I found that a lot of this presentation boxes were made by LOUIS-FRANCOIS TRONQUOY , I can see that a lot of his boxes were made for the eastern markets , and the initials of LT can go with the name.
Can anyone help me to find the Makers mark of Louis Francois tronquoy ?

Thank you all for you time and help

[JayT]

Tronquoy is a possibility. His symbol was an insect leg (une patte d’insecte). Tronquoy was a snuff- box maker (la tabatière) working in Paris at 8 rue des Prouvaires from 1827-1871.

See Arminjon, v. I, no.03276, p.319.

Hope this helps.

Moderators: Do you think this post should be moved to the gold marks forum?

[amena]

Thank you all. An extremely interesting post, really.
Amena