Skip to main content
Video Loading
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 11

Snuff Box Parrotlets on Flowering Branches. Art Nouveau Style Sterling Silver En

About the Item

Square snuff box with rounded sides in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent fired enamel on guillochè and hand painted miniature parrotlets on flowering branches. Art Nouveau style early 1900s. Measure cm. 7.5 x 7.5 x 1.8. Weight gr. 208. Designed by Franco Salimbeni in 1992 and manufactured in Florence in the headquarters of the Salimbeni company with completely manual execution by artisan artists with thick slab and large reinforcements suitable for withstanding numerous enamelled firings at high heat at about 800° C. Guilloché is a craftsmanship performed on mostly precious metals, which allows to obtain surfaces engraved with complex and repeated geometric patterns. Guilloché engraving was invented in the mid-1800s in Switzerland by watch manufacturers to embellish the dials of their luxurious artifacts. The technique consists in engraving the metal with a burin using a machine with mostly manual controls. (see photos in the gallery) A copier following the sinuosity of some matrices placed on the machine transmits a movement to the object subjected to engraving, thus obtaining that the burin "cuts" the metal. By moving the positions of the matrices and the copier, precise intertwined engravings of an almost infinite geometric type are obtained and their continuous differentiation certainly adds value to the objects that are produced. The dexterity required to carry out this operation is highly specialized, the existing machines are very old, as there has never been a mass market and above all for the conservation of art. After the engraving, we generally proceed with fire enamelling, a meticulous and very long process during which the guilloché engraved surface is covered with various layers of colored glass powder and cooked in small special ovens at a temperature between 700 and 800 ° C. The result of transparency and perfection can also require numerous firings, at least 10 for a single color, for surfaces with multiple colors, it can even reach 50 firings. One color is applied at a time and then baked, the glazes used have a different blend so that when the next color is placed the previous one does not move. The inclination of the surfaces of an object can create great difficulties both for the guilloche engraving and in the enamel firing phase as the positioning of the machine becomes more complex and a great skill and competence is required while the liquefaction of the enamel produces situations complexes that only the highest level of craftsmanship can achieve. In Salimbeni production, guilloché engraving and enamelling have been the main processes for more than a century and are found in almost all products. In the construction of an object Salimbeni starts from a drawing, which can also be provided by the customer, to build the structure by hand with silver plates of different thicknesses. Once the necessary shape has been obtained with welding and finishing, processes common to the talented silversmiths, we proceed with the guilloché engraving and subsequent enamelling, as well as all the final polishing and galvanic finishing, for gilding and / or other. Our most complex and most precious productions also required months of work for small objects, seeking a perfection that is generally not contemplated in craftsmanship but which for us is the basis of our daily life.

More From This Seller

View All
Snuff Box round in Art Nouveau style Sterling Silver Salimbeni
By Franco Salimbeni, Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Round snuff box in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent fired enamels on guillochè and hand-painted floral miniature, surrounded by a frame with leaves on a blue bac...
Category

Vintage 1970s Italian Art Nouveau Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Sterling Silver, Enamel

Pill Box White Enamel Art Nouveau style Sterling Silver Salimbeni
By Franco Salimbeni, Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Round rounded pillbox in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent fired enamel on guillochè and hand-painted floral miniature on the lid. Viennese Art Nouveau style. Dia...
Category

Vintage 1970s Italian Art Nouveau Decorative Boxes

Materials

Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel

Snuff Box Octagonal English Queen Anne style Sterling Silver Salimbeni
By Franco Salimbeni, Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Octagonal snuff box in sterling silver 925/1000 gold plated with borders in the English Queen Anne style and sides with translucent fired enamels on ...
Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Queen Anne Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Sterling Silver, Enamel

Snuff Box Black enamel Baroque style engraving Sterling Silver Salimbeni
By Salimbeni, Franco Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Shaped table snuff box in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with fine fire-enamelled baroque style engraving. Very fine hand engraving on all surfaces. Dimensions cm. 6.2 x 7.8 cm...
Category

Vintage 1970s Italian Baroque Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Sterling Silver, Enamel

Snuff Box Venetian landscape miniature Sterling Silver Salimbeni
By Franco Salimbeni, Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Snuff Box Snuff Box Venetian landscape is in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated 24 carats.. Snuff Box Snuff Box Venetian landscape has translucent fired enamel on guilloche and min...
Category

Vintage 1960s Italian Baroque Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Gold, Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel

Pill Box Silver Sterling Enamel hand-painted Art Nouveau style floral miniature
By Franco Salimbeni, Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Discover an authentic artisanal treasure with this refined oval pill box. Made of gold-plated 925/1000 silver, this piece is embellished with translucent enamels fired on guilloché ...
Category

Vintage 1970s Italian Art Nouveau Decorative Boxes

Materials

Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel

You May Also Like

Art Nouveau Style Sterling Silver and Enamel Box
By Johnson, Walker & Tolhurst 1
Located in Jesmond, Newcastle Upon Tyne
An exceptional, fine and impressive antique Edwardian English sterling silver and enamel box in the Art Nouveau style; an addition to the ornamental silverware collection. This exceptional antique Edwardian sterling silver box has a plain circular form. The box is fitted with a subtly domed, hallmarked push fit cover, embellished with an exceptional hot enameled panel depicting a female character in the form of a water nymph, gazing through ripples and water lilies, all in the iconic Art Nouveau style; this is a highly desirable and collectable scene. The sides and underside of this Art Nouveau box are plain and unembellished. This impressive box was crafted by the London silversmiths Walter...
Category

Antique Early 1900s English Art Nouveau Decorative Boxes

Materials

Silver, Sterling Silver, Enamel

Sterling Silver Snuff or Trinket Box
Located in Hamilton, Ontario
19th century sterling silver monogrammed snuff or trinket box.
Category

Antique 19th Century Victorian Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Renaissance Style circa 1790 German Sterling Silver Gilt Snuff Box
Located in Firenze, IT
SHIPPING POLICY: No additional costs will be added to this order. Shipping costs will be totally covered by the seller (customs duties included). Germany, circa 1740 Of rectangular...
Category

Antique Mid-18th Century German Louis XV Sterling Silver

Materials

Silver

Duke of Clarence Sterling Silver Snuff Box
Located in New York, NY
Duke of Clarence sterling silver snuff box. Antique ebonized wood and sterling silver box with the profile of the son of Queen Victoria. England, la...
Category

Antique Late 19th Century English Victorian Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Sterling Silver

French Art Nouveau Period Sterling Silver Pill Box
Located in New York, NY
A small French sterling silver pill box, Art Nouveau period, decorated with flowers and a gold gilt interior, circa late-19th century, France. Piece ...
Category

Early 20th Century French Art Nouveau Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Sterling Silver

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

Antique 1830s British Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Silver, Sterling Silver

Recently Viewed

View All