Featured ornate snuff box,where was it made?

The box has no marks,it maybe a sapphire on the thumb piece.

I would be interested on your opinions.

Giotto.

 

Size?

 

That is very ornate. My very wild guess will be Italian, and late 19th/early 20th C, meant more for display than use.

I like snuff boxes and I've looked at 100s of pictures (maybe 1000s) and no comparables come to mind.

 

Gorgeous piece.

 

VERY nice indeed !!! ... Joy.

 

THAT is simply, just plain, GORGEOUS!!!!!!!

 

3"inches x2 1/4"inches x 5/8"inches
75x 55x 15 mm

I have already had ,Italian ,Swiss ,German , French, Hungarian.

I have found an interesting one online made in Hungary ,that is similar.


Giotto

 

lovely !
Surely silver....have u found any marks....( they may be teeny tiny..! )

 

Welcome Giotto, that is a beautiful snuffbox.
My first thought with this type of scrollwork and so much of it, is Austro-Hungarian, so it could well be Hungarian made.
Look for tiny marks, which could be anywhere. Usually near the closure or around the edges, but they could be hidden among the foliage.

 

Hello thanks for your kind words, no marks anywhere looked all over many times.
mystery why no marks may be one off, special order.

 

By the way it tested as 844 grade silver.

Giotto.

 

Hi,
That is one beautiful box!!!!!!
greg

 

For no reason I can defend, my feeling is German or Austrian. Think the silver fineness is consistent with antique silver from that part of the world, no?

It puzzles me why, when all that scroll work is so precise & delicate, the Cupid is so crude. Look at the arms. Think those are meant to be roses at his feet. They also got short shrift. The cherubs at the corners are just sketches.

The scrolls & flourishes on either side of the lid & bottom are not exact mirror images of each other, although meant to appear that way, which suggests hand manufacture to me.

 

A lot of Austro-Hungarian silver and gold isn't marked. The reasons could be that the maker was too far from an assay office, tax dodging, even an impatient customer.

 

It doesn't give me a sense of French, Swiss, German, or British, but I could easily be wrong, and there are a lot of other countries that all produced snuff boxes.

Marks on boxes can be very tiny and are frequently obscured by subsequent work.

 

I surmise Anglo Indian, made for our market. Look at the engraving on the inside, especially the base, and also the outer rims. It would also explain the slightly clunky cherub, it isn't a local motif. Sapphire cabs would also make sense.

 

There is a mark...... in the bottom photo,right side about 1/4 up from the bottom of the piece.

 

Excellent spotting Three characters, right?

 

Yes ,but it is too small to read.

 

On the snout of the dragon? H11 ?