Silver piqué-work snuff box
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Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
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About this item
Silver piqué-work snuff box with silvered copper arabesque inlay and central star motif, all of un-marked silver onto a jet ground. The base of finely ring turned jet with some minor cracks and a chip but quite sound. The lid twists opening to a void interior.
Anglo-French, circa 1690 - 1730.
Piqué work inlay dates from about 1675 - 1730, thought to have originated in France and brought to England with the late 17th century immigration of the Huguenot craftsmen. Also known as piqué-posé, the patterns or pictures are incised into the tortoiseshell, ivory or, in this case, jet and inlaid with fine strands of gold or silver.
A similar box with the same arabesque decoration around the lid and with motifs from Aesop Fables was included in John Culme’s “British Silver Boxes 1640-1840. The Lion Collection”, p.154.
Jet, derived from the French, jaiet, was being mined in a number or areas in France, including Montjardin and Roquevaire in the 18th century and, although present in North Yorkshire since antiquity, had fallen out of fashion until Victorian times.
Additional Information
1209 (AB-72035)
Di: 2.2" (5.6 cm)
18th Century
Gloucestershire, United Kingdom