A PARCEL-GILT SILVER, LACQUER AND ENAMEL SNUFF BOX, FRANCE, MID 19TH CENTURY | A parcel-gilt silver, lacquer and enamel snuff box, France, mid 19th century

oval, in 18th century taste, the lid applied with an earlier oval enamel plaque depicting a mother attempting to read to two recalcitrant infants, probably Geneva, circa 1795, in gold and pearl frame, the ground, sides and base striped in green lacquer, the interior gilt, maker's mark illegible, boar's head post-1838 control, the front rim further struck apparently with a capital C or G below a star MN 4315PNB 1010

Princess Mathilde (1820-1904); 

Prince Napoléon Louis Joseph (1864-1932) sole legatee of Princess Mathilde;

Prince Louis Napoléon (1914-1997)                                                             

Tarnished so would benefit from professional cleaning; lacquer crazed; pearls discoloured.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

On 27 May 1820, Mathilde was born in Trieste as the second child of Jérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte, former King of Westphalia, and Princesse Catherine of Württemberg. Previously engaged to the future Napoléon III of France, the younger son of Louis Bonaparte and Hortense de Beauharnais, Mathilde married the wealthy Russian  Anatole Demidoff in 1840 in Rome. Following the fall of Napoléon in 1813, Jérôme and Catherine had been forced to live in exile between Italy and Austria. Despite the fact that Demidoff, who had been made Prince by the Grand Duke of Tuscany only shortly before the marriage with Mathilde, was well-known for his capriciousness and rudeness, Jérôme approved of the marriage, hoping that Demidov would help in overcoming his own difficult economic situation.The turbulent marriage of Prince Anatole and Princesse Mathilde ended rather abruptly in 1846 following a public scandal  at a ball attended by both Mathilde and Demidoff’s current lover. Mathilde, who remained on good terms with Emperor Nicholas I of Russia throughout her life, received a large annual sum in alimony from Demidoff which enabled her to live as a prominent salon holder during the Second Empire in Paris. She was a close friend of Marcel Proust, in whose novel series, In Search of Lost Time, she makes a brief appearance.