A 19TH CENTURY LARGE DECORATIVE GOLD AND ENAMEL SNUFF BOX |

rectangular, the lid, sides and base inset with oval enamel plaques painted en grisaille with attendants decking deities and attendant putti, between chased rosettes or hung with leafy garlands on an enamel ground simulating lapiz lazuli, the wide borders chased with interlaced garlands and ribbons or flowerheads, spurious Paris prestige marks including maker's mark rubbed but possibly IH, charge and discharge of Julien Alaterre and date letter K

A chip top front left side and chips and cracks top row back, inner base and lid rim partly detached
"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."

This imposing decorative snuff box is based closely on an oval gold and enamel box, maker's mark of Henri Bodson, Paris, 1768/9, in the Royal Collection Trust. Both boxes are enamelled in dark blue flecked with gold to simulate a ground of lapis lazuli and each has an oval panel on lid, sides and base painted en grisaille to simulate marble statuary or hardstone cameos. The Bodson box has a panel showing Edmé Bouchardon's sculpture of Cupid fashioning a bow from Hercules's club (now in the Louvre), exhibited at the Salon of 1746. The chased gold ornaments and swagged sides are the same on both boxes as are the deep interlaced borders. The magnificent snuff box in the Royal Collection Trust was presented on 6 May 1935 to King George V and Queen Mary by members of the Royal Household to commemorate their Silver Jubilee but its previous whereabouts is not recorded. At some point, probably in the later nineteenth century, the present box must have been created in tribute by an accomplished goldsmith who had the possibility of closely examining the Bodson box. Such tribute boxes are known to have been conceived both in St Petersburg (copying boxes from the Imperial collections) and in Paris.