An 18th century silver mounted tortoiseshell and piqué 'Harlequin' snuff box possibly John ...
An 18th century silver mounted tortoiseshell and piqué 'Harlequin' snuff box
possibly John Gilbert, London circa 1700
Oval form, silver mounted tortoiseshell, the hinged cover inlaid in mother of pearl and engraved silver piqué and gilt featuring 'Arlecchino', the Harlequin character holding a truncheon underarm, taken from the 'Commedia dell'Arte' and echoed on the back with the figure of 'Columbine', both set within a decorative outer border featuring piqué dots and quatrefoils, height 2.5cm, length 7cm.
Footnotes:
Provenance
Purchased from Halycyon Days, Grosvenor House Antiques Fair, 26th June 1991
Literature
John Culme, British Silver Boxes 1640-1840, The Lion Collection, published by the Antique Collector's Club, 2014. The harlequin being featured first on p.22 as the illustration for 'The Collection'; and again as no.107 p.113
Two Arlecchino boxes are included in Robin Butler's 'The Albert Collection', published by Broadway, 1999 - one carrying a club (no.147 p.32) and as Columbine, also carrying a club (no.351 p.33).
This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: Y
Y Subject to CITES regulations when exporting items outside of the EU, see clause 13.
Sale price
Estimate
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Time, Location
Auction House
An 18th century silver mounted tortoiseshell and piqué 'Harlequin' snuff box
possibly John Gilbert, London circa 1700
Oval form, silver mounted tortoiseshell, the hinged cover inlaid in mother of pearl and engraved silver piqué and gilt featuring 'Arlecchino', the Harlequin character holding a truncheon underarm, taken from the 'Commedia dell'Arte' and echoed on the back with the figure of 'Columbine', both set within a decorative outer border featuring piqué dots and quatrefoils, height 2.5cm, length 7cm.
Footnotes:
Provenance
Purchased from Halycyon Days, Grosvenor House Antiques Fair, 26th June 1991
Literature
John Culme, British Silver Boxes 1640-1840, The Lion Collection, published by the Antique Collector's Club, 2014. The harlequin being featured first on p.22 as the illustration for 'The Collection'; and again as no.107 p.113
Two Arlecchino boxes are included in Robin Butler's 'The Albert Collection', published by Broadway, 1999 - one carrying a club (no.147 p.32) and as Columbine, also carrying a club (no.351 p.33).
This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: Y
Y Subject to CITES regulations when exporting items outside of the EU, see clause 13.
