A gold-mounted hardstone snuff box, German, mid-18th century

‘The sheer delight of discovering a promising piece of striated agate or amethystine-quartz and hollowing out the centre, carving and trimming down the exterior and carefully polishing what has now become a box, is easy to understand. Boxes were made in a bewildering multiplicity of forms in the mid-eighteenth century, when their manufacture began in earnest, such as baskets, trunks, (…), pears, nuts, bunches of grapes, snails, frogs, lions, dog’s heads and even skulls’ (Kenneth Snowman, Eighteenth Century Gold Boxes of Europe, London, 1990, p. 296). It is well known that German goldsmiths of the 18^th century were experts in the production of hardstone gold boxes, ranging from intricately inlaid specimen cabinets to carved examples from one piece of hardstone, all with the aim to demonstrate both their craftmanship in working the stone, as well as the variety and diversity of nature’s mineral offerings. The pug, traditionally associated with loyalty, trustworthiness and steadiness, had been introduced in Europe in the 16^th century. The breed was first held by the House of Orange as a result of the trade between the Dutch East Indian company and China, where the Imperial breed initially originated. Pugs had probably become the most sought-after dogs of the 18^th century and can be found accompanying famous sitters in paintings, such as The Marquesa de Pontejos by Francisco de Goya (1786). Famous owners of pugs also included Joséphine Bonaparte (1763-1814), and the small dog was equally fashionable in 18^th century Germany, as also demonstrated by porcelain objects made in Meissen featuring pugs.