M.S. Rau Snuff Boxes and Tobacco
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Micromosaic Snuff Box
Located in New Orleans, LA
This exceptional micromosaic snuff box represents the heights of this ancient art form. Depicting four doves sitting atop a bronze dish, the inse...
Category
Antique 19th Century Neoclassical Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Bronze
Russian Silver, Gold And Niello Topographical Snuff Box
Located in New Orleans, LA
This silver, gold and niello inlaid topographical snuffbox is a masterpiece of Russian silver. Almost owned by a wealthy 19th-century tradesman, this extraordinary creation shares a ...
Category
Antique 19th Century Russian Other Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Gold, Silver
English Gold And Hardstone Snuff Box
Located in New Orleans, LA
This 18th-century English snuff box is composed of a beautiful dark hardstone body encased in gold casework mounts. The box opens with a hinged lid, allowing snuff stored inside to b...
Category
Antique Mid-18th Century English Rococo Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Gold
Swiss Enamel And Gold Musical Snuff Box
Located in New Orleans, LA
This exceptional 19th-century gold box appears at first glance be an exquisite snuff box adorned with a charming Swiss enamel vista encircled by a multitude of natural pearls. A quick wind of the key, however, reveals the complex mechanism hidden inside, and the box plays a wistful tune. Once known as carillons à musique...
Category
Antique 19th Century Swiss Other Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Gold, Enamel
Cartier Gold and Sapphire Card Case
By Cartier
Located in New Orleans, LA
Formed entirely of 18K yellow gold polished to a high shine, this sleek case was created by the one and only Cartier. The exterior features a finel...
Category
20th Century French Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Gold
Louis XV Mother-of-pearl Snuffbox
By Louis Robin
Located in New Orleans, LA
This Louis XV-period gold-mounted snuff box features lustrous panels of inlaid mother-of-pearl. The whimsical box takes the form of a barrel and features hinged lids on both ends. Di...
Category
Antique 18th Century French Louis XV Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Gold
Duke and Duchess of Windsor Gold Snuff Box
Located in New Orleans, LA
This important Louis XV gold snuff box is from the prestigious collection of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. The engine-turned gold box or...
Category
Antique 18th Century French Louis XV Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Gold
French Sapphire and Enamel Cigarette Case
Located in New Orleans, LA
This French gold cigarette case is a splendid specimen of early 20th century style and refinement. The 18-karat yellow gold accessory is surrounded by exquisite "pinstripe" white enameling with a line of channel-set blue sapphires running along the façade and thumb press.
Smoking accessories...
Category
Early 20th Century French Other Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Multi-gemstone, Gold, Enamel
Montesquieu Portrait Tortoiseshell Snuff Box
By Jacques Joseph de Gault
Located in New Orleans, LA
An exquisite miniature of French philosopher Charles Montesquieu graces the lid of this tortoiseshell-lined snuff box. The handsome portrait was fash...
Category
Antique 18th Century French Louis XV Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Gold, Enamel
Silver-Gilt Musical Snuff Box by François Nicole
Located in New Orleans, LA
This exceptional Swiss silver-gilt musical snuff box was crafted by the famed François Nicole. At first glance, the diminutive piece appears to simpl...
Category
Antique 19th Century Swiss Neoclassical Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Silver
Swiss Gold Musical Snuff Box
Located in New Orleans, LA
This special and important Swiss gold music box is chased and engraved with a set of musical instruments surrounded by elaborate swirls of ornate foliage. Embossed with a delightful braided gold design, the two-compartment box features an exquisite oval agate key, which opens a recessed lock in the base of the box. Such a box would have been a prized possession and would have been able to fit neatly into a gentleman’s waistcoat pocket.
Ingenious miniature portable devices, musical snuff boxes...
Category
Antique 19th Century Swiss Other Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Gold
18th Century English Agate Snuff Box
Located in New Orleans, LA
Trimmed in elegant yellow gold is this polished English agate snuff box. Distinguished by the dynamic patterning of the agate, the exquisite vessel i...
Category
Antique 18th Century English Other Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Agate, Gold
French Chinoiserie Hardstone Snuff Box
Located in New Orleans, LA
A marvelously carved chinoiserie motif adorns the lid of this incredible 19th-century French tabatière or snuff box. The charming scene is intricately crafted in the form of a boating figure who holds aloft an umbrella formed of yellow gold, while the box itself is crafted from attractive brown hardstone mounted with stunning yellow gold "waves." Enchanting and beautifully executed, the rare snuff box is an incredible example of the creative artistry of these delightful boxes, as well as the highly popular chinoiserie style.
Inhaling snuff, or snuffing, as it is also called, was a popular social ritual among the European elite from the 16th through the 19th centuries. Over these 300 years, master artisans created and designed elegant snuff boxes using...
Category
Antique 19th Century French Chinoiserie Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Stone, Gold
American Cut Glass and Silver Tobacco Jar
By Bailey, Banks & Biddle
Located in New Orleans, LA
This resplendent tobacco jar by Bailey, Banks & Biddle of Philadelphia features a beautiful sterling silver lid atop a body of elegant cut-to-clear glass. The lid is adorned with a wonderful Rococo repoussé decoration which contrasts beautifully with the green and cranberry cut glass...
Category
Antique Late 19th Century American Other Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Sterling Silver
Agate and Micromosaic Box
Located in New Orleans, LA
Intricate and flawless, the highly detailed micromosaic medallion on the lid of this agate box is an incredible example of this diminutive art form. The elaborate micromosaic depicts...
Category
Antique 19th Century European Other Decorative Boxes
Materials
Agate
Georgian Tobacco Honesty Box
Located in New Orleans, LA
This rare brass box would have been a coveted contraption in the finest English pubs of the 18th and 19th centuries. Known as an “honesty” box, the rectang...
Category
Antique 19th Century English Georgian Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Brass
German Porcelain Snuff Box
Located in New Orleans, LA
This important German porcelain snuff box exhibits delightful artistry and craftsmanship. Hand painted classical tableau celebrating the e...
Category
Antique 18th Century German Neoclassical Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Porcelain
Erotic Snuff Box
Located in New Orleans, LA
A scintillating Sapphic scene adorns the cover of this rare erotic snuff box. Set into the top of this burlwood and tortoiseshell container, this high...
Category
Antique 19th Century European Other Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Tortoise Shell, Glass
Chinese Cinnabar Lacquer Cuspidor
Located in New Orleans, LA
This intriguing Chinese zhadou is intricately carved of fine cinnabar lacquer. A work of exceptional artistry, this covered bowl is adorned with an intricately carved floral motif on all surfaces, including the cover and the wide rim. Also known as a cuspidor or spittoon, this rare container would have been used by members of the imperial family and scholar- officials at the court. Carved during the Kangxi period (1662-1722), this charming piece exhibits the high detail and charm associated with items from that period, making it a true treasure,
Early 18th century (Kangxi dynasty)
Measures: 6 ¼” wide x 3 ¼” high
Cinnabar has been revered for its color all over the world. It has been found in the royal burial chambers of the Mayas, in the rituals of India, and in the ruins of ancient Greece and Rome. In China, cinnabar and gold were the two most important elements in alchemy. Mined since the Neolithic Age, cinnabar is the ore of mercury, and as such, it can be incredibly toxic, especially when mining. In fact, during the Roman Empire, miners at Spain’s Almadén mine in Spain were frequently exposed to mercury fumes, and the subsequent, often fatal, sickness was considered an occupational hazard.
The most popular known use of cinnabar is in Chinese carved lacquer-ware, a technique that is believed to have originated in the Song Dynasty, in which cinnabar is ground to a powder and added to clear lacquer. As with mining, there was inherent danger of mercury poisoning for those who carved the lacquer, as mercury was also released into the air when artisans ground the pigments. Most antique cinnabar...
Category
Antique 18th Century Chinese Other Lacquer
Materials
Lacquer
Burlwood Erotic Snuff Box
Located in New Orleans, LA
There is much more to this exquisite Georgian snuffbox than meets the eye. Beautifully crafted of striking burlwood, this unassuming box features a lining of precious tortoiseshell and a false bottom, which, when gently unscrewed, reveals a miniature erotic painting of exceptional detail. Erotic antiques...
Category
Antique 19th Century English Other Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Tortoise Shell, Burl
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Antique William IV Sterling Silver Table Snuff Box
By Joseph Willmore
Located in Jesmond, Newcastle Upon Tyne
An exceptional, fine and impressive antique William IV English sterling silver table snuff box; an addition to our collectable silverware collection.
This exceptional antique William IV sterling silver snuff box has a rectangular, rounded form.
The body of the box is embellished with impressive chased floral motifs accented with scrolling stem and foliate ornamentation, all on a matte background.
The decoration to the body incorporates a chased single leaf design to each corner, emanating from the rounded lower portion.
The upper rim of the body and swept sides of the cover are encompassed with a continuous band of engine turned decoration.
The underside of the box features a further panel of engine turned decoration.
This exceptional example of antique silverware is fitted with a hinged hallmarked cover embellished with an engine turned bordered rectangular vacant cartouche to the upper plateau.
The cover is further embellished with an exceptional cast and applied domed, incurved border to the upper portion, matching the ornamentation to that of the body and continuing to an impressive floral thumbpiece to the anterior edge.
This antique sterling silver snuff box opens to reveal the original gilded interior.
Condition
This antique sterling silver snuff box is an exceptional gauge of silver, exceptional quality and in exceptional condition.
The chased and applied ornamentation is all very sharp and the engine turned decoration is all very crisp.
Full hallmarks struck to the interior of the box are all very clear.
Reflections in photographs may detract from the true representation of this antique silverware.
Dimensions
Length 9.8cm/3.9"
Width 6.5cm/2.6"
Height 4.3cm/1.7"
Weight
8.2 troy ounces/253g
Maker: Joseph Willmore...
Category
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Materials
Silver, Sterling Silver
