Tortoise Shell Boxes

Oval Tea Caddy with Silver Mounts From our Tea Caddy collection, we are delighted to offer this Georgian Silver and Tortoiseshell Tea Caddy. The Tea Caddy is of oval shape with a Tortoiseshell exterior mounted with engraved silver stringing, a silver shield plaque below the silver escutcheon and a silver looped handle. The interior features a floating tea shelf...

A fine Regency period rectangular tea caddy, veneered in panels divided by fine metal stringing. Silver metal escutcheon and key. Complete with an initialled plaque on the lid and ro...

Batavia (Jakarta), 19th century, apparently unmarked H. 5 x W. 18 x D. 13 cm Before settling down to business in the former Dutch East Indies, sirih had to be offered in the most e...

Snuffbox with music made in Switzerland in the first half of the 19th century. This rare snuffbox plays 2 melodies, on a sectional comb. The comb is thus composed of several section...

Snuffbox with music made in Switzerland in the first half of the 19th century. This rare snuffbox plays 2 melodies, on a sectional comb. The comb is thus composed of several section...

Snuffbox with music made in Switzerland in the first half of the 19th century. This rare snuffbox plays 2 melodies, on a sectional comb. The comb is thus composed of several section...

Snuffbox with music made in Switzerland in the first half of the 19th century. This rare snuffbox plays 2 melodies, on a sectional comb. The comb is thus composed of several section...

Snuffbox with music made in Switzerland in the first half of the 19th century. This rare snuffbox plays 2 melodies, on a sectional comb. The comb is thus composed of several section...

Snuffbox with music made in Switzerland in the first half of the 19th century. This rare snuffbox plays 2 melodies, on a sectional comb. The comb is thus composed of several section...

A small oval tortoiseshell piqué patch pot, the hinged lid with a beribboned garland of flowers round a blank escutcheon, raised on four ogee feet....

A large Edwardian shaped rectangular silver and tortoiseshell piqué box, the hinged lid with a dainty basket suspended from a bow with long ribbons entwined with flowering tendrils, ...

A antique tortoiseshell singing bird box, by Bontems Circa 1890, Going-barrel movement, Motor-view light anomaly... When wound and start/...

A good antique composition tortoiseshell and gilt metal singing bird box, German circa 1900 Going-barrel movement Setting the birds free... When wound and the sta...

A fine antique pictorial enamel and underbelly-cut tortoiseshell singing bird box, Circa 1910, Going-barrel movement, Soft streaks of light throughout this fabulous case... When wound and start/stop slide moved to the right, the bird emerges through the pierced and tooled gilt grille, moving bone beak, wings and body from side-to-side to continuous synchronized birdsong. With the bird displaying...

Featuring Alternating Panels From our Tea Caddy collection, we are delighted to offer this fine Regency Tortoiseshell and Mother of Pearl Serpentine Tea Caddy. The Tea Caddy of rect...

19th Century Moorish Tortoiseshell and Bone Trinket Box, Lined with Blue Velvet. Ideal for jewellery or keepsakes or just as a decorative desk item.

Small oval tortoiseshell Tea Caddy with applied pressed silver with a rippled design. The front has an ornate silver escutcheon. The tortoiseshell & silver tea caddy interior contains most of its original tin lining with a rippled silver surround incorporating the hinge, and a single floating tortoiseshell lid with silver ball handle which rests on the tea to keep it fresh. This delightful little oval tea caddy...

Very nice French Napoleon III "Boulle" marquetry, tortoiseshell, nacre and gilded brass decorative gloves box. Restored by a cabinetmaker.

A French Tortoiseshell and gold inlaid purse with red silk inner lining. A very pretty and unusual item, the tortoiseshell in very good condition.

A antique tortoiseshell singing bird box, most probably by Bontems, Going barrel movement, Gilt metal two-tone brilliance... When wound and start/stop slide moved to the right, the bird pops up through foliate chased gilt grille, then proceeds to move bone beak, wings and body from side-to-side to good complex continuous synchronized birdsong. The bird with streaked feathered plumage in brown, yellow, turquoise and red, lime green and purple iridescent highlights, highly polished lid interior for full bird reflection, in plain polished tortoiseshell case, twinned laurel leaf engraved bird lid border with the bird lid engraved with love birds and rose united beneath leaf swag arch, accentuated with gilt on silvered ground, hidden key...

A lovely little antique French Louis XV casket of scarlet tortoiseshell with superb ormolu mounts. Set on ormolu paw feet and with a profusion of ormolu mounts this lovely little box...

A dutch tortoiseshell box with two engraved silver plaques Amsterdam, 1691, with maker's mark of Steven des Rousseaux (1654-1733) H. 5 cm Diam. 12.5 cm Note: Steven des ...

A beautiful Singing bird box by bontems of Paris, Circa 1900. Tortoisesheel embellished with sterling silver, with silver and enamel lid.

Austrian Tortoise shell Silver box Austrian Tortoise shell Silver box in the shape of an envelope with a flap. The flap is with a spring. The box is marked with the Austrian Silve...

19th century English tortoiseshell hinged box with silver decorations.

An extremely rare antique English George III Rococo pressed tortoiseshell, ormolu and Battersea enamel snuff box. This beautiful oblong box is in pristine condition and has been well...

This finely engraved and inscribed tortoiseshell music box is a precious piece of French Revolution and Napoleonic history: given as a gift by the Duchess of Gdansk in 1837 to a neph...

- A hugely rare and intimate piece of British history: Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson's snuff box - Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson (1758–1805) is one of the most celebrated figures in British history, best remembered for his heroic efforts during the Napoleonic wars. Nelson's career as a naval officer saw him lead the British fleet to several victories, during which he suffered injuries, including the loss of his right arm and the sight in his right eye. His most famous victory came in October 1805 at the Battle of Trafalgar, in which the Royal Navy decimated the combined fleets of the French and Spanish navies. Prior to the battle, Nelson sent out the famous message "England expects that every man will do his duty". Tragically, he was shot by a French sniper and died on board his ship the HMS Victory mid battle. His body was returned to England where he was granted a state funeral, and numerous monuments were erected in his honor, including Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square, London. This tortoiseshell composition snuff box was originally owned by Lord Nelson, and features a miniature watercolor scene of the Amalfi coast on the top. The box was gifted by Nelson to his personal secretary George Unwin, during a dinner party in Sicily in late 1798 or early 1799 which was also attended by Nelson's mistress, Emma, Lady Hamilton. Nelson had first met Hamilton in 1793 and the pair were reunited in 1798 following the Battle of the Nile. Having been severely injured, Nelson recuperated in Naples, during which time he was nursed back to health by Lady Emma and her elderly husband, Sir William Hamilton. It was during this period that Nelson and Hamilton began their famous love affair, which lasted until Nelson's death at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. It seems highly possible that Nelson gave this gift to Unwin as a show of generosity, in an attempt to impress his mistress over dinner. The snuff box is offered along with a manuscript letter by Unwin's son, George, which reads in full: "My Father had either lost his own snuff box on going ashore or in some shop in Palermo and upon mentioning the circumstances at Lady Hamilton’s table where Lord Nelson was one of the party his Lordship...