An Italian white-metal mounted tortoiseshell snuff box, possibly Naples, mid-18th century, the cover inset with mother-of-pearl, scrolls, waterfalls, dolphins and sea creatures, 7.5cm diameter Note: The technique of inlaying tortoiseshell with...

An Italian white-metal mounted tortoiseshell snuff box, possibly Naples, mid-18th century, the cover inset with mother-of-pearl, scrolls, waterfalls, dolphins and sea creatures, 7.5cm diameter Note: The technique of inlaying tortoiseshell with mother-of-pearl, gold and silver probably originated in Naples towards the end of the 16th Century and, judging by the number of contemporary references to the Neapolitan pique work and surviving pieces bearing the signatures of Neapolitan craftsmen, Naples appears to have remained the centre of production, certainly until the eighteenth century.
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