Fish Snuff Box

[Granmaa]

Does anyone know the marks on this delightful snuff box?

Miles


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[dinio]

Hi Miles,
Why do you think this box could be Dutch?

For me, the symbol contained into the middle mark (four diagonal crossing lines over an horizontal line) looks very similar to the symbol found into the mark used for Sheffield assay office in 1904-1906 (four diagonal crossing arrows over an horizontal line).
Then the question could be: what does this symbol correspond to? If it symbolize something in Sheffield, perhaps the hypothesis of unascribed english marks could also be retained... The layout of the marks could fit with such an hypothesis.

Obviously the history of the creation and fashion of such fish boxes could help for origin and date. Any information on this?

Dinio
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[Granmaa]

Hi Dinio,

I'm not at all sure if it is Dutch, but those which I have seen in auction catalogues are often described as such. Also, they are usually dated 18th century.

Miles
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