18 karat gold and enamel 'jewelers' snuffbox, Gübelin, Switzerland

The rectangular box with hinged lid decorated in cloisonné enamel with the scene of St. Eligius at his workbench holding a scale in one hand, a ring in the other, observed by betrothed patrons, the sides reeded, the base decorated in a grid pattern, 3 inches by 2¼ inches, maker's mark for Gubelin. With fitted case.

The scene on the present box is taken from a painting by Petrus Christus dating from 1449, presently in the Robert Lehman Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. 

Eligius was born in Limousin at the end of the 6th century. His first occupation was that of a goldsmith who was especially skilled at creating reliquaries. He was brought to the court of Merovingian kings where he rose to the role of treasurer and later chief counselor, entrusted with both diplomatic and governmental missions. He joined the priesthood in 639 and later became Bishop of Noyon where he devoted himself to the poor and freed slaves. Today he is honored as the patron saint of goldsmiths. See The Bible and Saints, G. Duchet-Suchaux and M. Pastoureau, pp. 132-33.