unusual heavily engraved snuff box,no marks, what country ,age.

[gsmoggy]

Hi Members
I have just purchased this unusual snuff box,I felt it is was a quality piece,I would be interested on opinions about it,it has no marks at all .
. The thumb piece may be a sapphire ,I have never seen a fully engraved interior before.







Regards Guido.

[AG2012]

Hi,
Extremely well made,riveted frame holding pierced panels,lots of hand craftsmanship,took days of very sophisticated handwork.
The origin will remain unknown, but it's European for sure, and that's important. Congratulations for great find.
Regards

[gsmoggy]

Hi Ag
Many thanks for your great comments.
I agree with you that it is probably European ,my feeling is maybe German,the clues may be in the engraving of some of the figures,based on mythology.
I thought the central Figure may be Nike the winged female Greek god ,I am not sure who the bearded winged old men are on each side on the front are?
Do you think this would be classed as a Historismus piece ? Or something else?

Regards Guido.

[amena]

Certainly an unusual piece, however I would not be surprised if it were Italian of the early 20th century.
It seems evident a remarkable skill in the floral decoration typical of the time in Italy, while some flaw is seen in the human figure.
Just my impression
Amena

[gsmoggy]

Hi Amena
many thanks for your thoughts,what date do you mean if it may be Italian? do you have any images and examples? it would be great to discover the country it was made in.

I have had an opinion from a very good dealer of English silver,who said it was continental ,may be Swiss c1860.
So at the moment we have ,1 Italian,1 German (me) 1 Swiss.
I do know that they did amazing filigree in Italy ,but I have never seen this pierced and engraved style before.

Regards Guido.

[amena]

As we all agree, this is a very unusual piece.
I have never seen before a perforated snuffbox with engraved plates put on inside .
What seems to me to be Italian in style are the leaf scrolls of which I am attaching some examples below.



The snuffbox 3 is certainly Italian, datable after the end of the First World War, when the company was founded whose logo is engraved on the bottom of the box. The other two are marked only with the number 800, which was used in Italy in the early part of the 20th century, before 1935. It is difficult to say for sure where they are from. I suppose they are Italian because I see a large number of them in the markets here in Italy, but I have no idea if this style was also used in Switzerland or elsewhere.
Best whishes
Amena

[JayT]

Well this idle speculation is a fun activity for end-of-the-year festivities!
I advance for your consideration that this box is in the taste of Strasbourg, France objects of the period 1775-1820. In particular the pierced and engraved grille, the floral decorations and foliage, the angel heads. So a little Germanic, and a little French.
Regards and best wishes for 2020,
JayT

[gsmoggy]

Many thanks for your interest and opinions on my box,it is interesting that we now have French in the mix,Thanks Amena for the images of the engraved examples,I do feel even though your examples are interesting, in my opinion they are not as finely engraved,the shapes and flow of the leaves and scrolls are more stiff ,and the elements birds ,flower vases,are either not there or are a bit coarser than on my box,the shapes of the Italian boxes are also a bit simpler in design, no open pieced work. In my opinion my box is not Italian.

Many thanks JayT
I do feel your suggestion is a possibility ,I will see if I can find any info about boxes of this period,the engraved floral baskets are a bit of a design used a lot in inlay work on French furniture from that period.
I feel that 1820 may be more accurate than 1860 suggested by my silver dealer friend (English Silver) whether it is German,Swiss or French,is yet to be discoverd . Again have you any images that may help?

It seems my box is not a common style as I have looked in all the books I have on silver boxes, gold boxes,English and European without any luck.

Regards Guido.

[gsmoggy]

Hi Members

Re my ornate box, I have had it tested,the result was 844 ,by a jeweler ,I am not sure how accurate the test is?
and if this may be a clue to where it was made?
Another question I have is was the top and base ,made by the casting method or all hand cut with a small jewelers fret saw and engraved?

I have recently seen a very similar box on Getty images (snuff Boxes) with image of the painting The Gleaners on lid.
Said to be made in Hungary 19th century. Do members feel mine may have been made there?

It seems that there is a difference in value if it was cast or not.

Regards Guido.

[gsmoggy]

Hi Members
I have managed to load an image of the Hungarian box ,mentioned in my last post,to see if members feel it may be of similar manufacture,to my box?
I notice on this box it looks like the plate behind the ornate top is riveted on ,the difference on my box is that the rivets are around the edges.
I feel the engraving around the top is a little be crude,and does not have the same quality as my box.

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[gsmoggy]

I am sorry the images did not load before,I have reloaded an image of the box.

Many thanks.