Snuff Box thumbnail 1
On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Snuff Box

ca. 1750 (made), 1819-1838 (mounted)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Shells and shapes inspired by shells were popular in the middle of the eighteenth century as they were seen as a perfect expression of the prevailing rococo fashion of the day. Indeed the word 'rococo' derives from the French term 'rocailles' used to describe the ornament of shell-incrusted rocks found in fashionable grottoes and other architectural structures.

At this time, the taking of snuff (finely-ground and blended tobacco) was considered a very fashionable past-time and the snuff-box became a necessary accessory for any person of taste and refinement. Tobacco and snuff were expensive and seen as exotic and desirable. Shell-shaped snuff boxes are found in precious metals, enamel and porcelain as the natural form is an ideal shape for a small box with a hinged cover. At the Capodimonte porcelain factory in Naples they were made in the factory's first year of production (1743) and are described in the records as having 'fruttiglie di mare' (fruits of the sea) on their covers.

Snuff boxes were often given as gifts between those romanticaly involved, or would-be romantically-involved. This idea is reinforced here by the finely painted interior of the box, where a Turk gestures invitingly to a young woman, here depicted as a classical goddess, perhaps Minerva, to partake of some snuff.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Soft-paste porcelain, painted in enamels and gilt, with silver-gilt mount
Brief description
Snuff box and lid, soft-paste porcelain, painted in enamels and gilt, with French silver-gilt mount, made by Capodimonte porcelain factory, Italy, ca. 1750
Physical description
Snuff box and lid, moulded on the exterior with overlapping shells, mainly bivalves, and picked out in tones of pink, yellow, red, brown and grey. The interior of the base with plain burnished gilding; the interior of the lid with a candlelight-scene. The silver-gilt mount with chased scrollwork thumb-piece.
Dimensions
  • Width: 90mm
  • Depth: 78mm
  • Height: 43mm
Marks and inscriptions
The silver-gilt mount bears French district mark of a rabbit's head (1819-1838) and a French maker's mark of a heart, the initials "DL and a mullet within a diamond
Credit line
Bequeathed by the Hon. Mrs A.E. Pleydell-Bouverie
Subject depicted
Summary
Shells and shapes inspired by shells were popular in the middle of the eighteenth century as they were seen as a perfect expression of the prevailing rococo fashion of the day. Indeed the word 'rococo' derives from the French term 'rocailles' used to describe the ornament of shell-incrusted rocks found in fashionable grottoes and other architectural structures.

At this time, the taking of snuff (finely-ground and blended tobacco) was considered a very fashionable past-time and the snuff-box became a necessary accessory for any person of taste and refinement. Tobacco and snuff were expensive and seen as exotic and desirable. Shell-shaped snuff boxes are found in precious metals, enamel and porcelain as the natural form is an ideal shape for a small box with a hinged cover. At the Capodimonte porcelain factory in Naples they were made in the factory's first year of production (1743) and are described in the records as having 'fruttiglie di mare' (fruits of the sea) on their covers.

Snuff boxes were often given as gifts between those romanticaly involved, or would-be romantically-involved. This idea is reinforced here by the finely painted interior of the box, where a Turk gestures invitingly to a young woman, here depicted as a classical goddess, perhaps Minerva, to partake of some snuff.
Bibliographic references
  • For a similar box in the Mueso di San Martino, Naples, see Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Fascination of Fragility, 2010, cat. 105, where it is stated that Minieri Riccio mentions that these boxes were called 'fruttiglie de mare' (fruits of the sea) and that Giovanni Caselli had painted two of them in 1743; the painting on this Museo di San Martino box has been attributed to Caselli, and by extension to V&A box C.110-1945; and the original wax model is attributed to Giuseppe Gricci; such boxes are documented as in production from 1743-1750 (Angela Caròla-Perrotti, Le Porcellane dei Borbone di Napoli, Naples, 1986, cat. 190; Alessandra Mottola Molfino, L'Arte della Porcellana in Italia, 1977, fig. 113, illustrating V&A C.110-1945; see also Barbara Beaucamp-Markowsky, Boîtes en Porcelaine ..., 1985, nos. 483-484).
  • A similar snuff box modelled by Giuseppe Gricci and with inside cover attributed to Giovanni Caselli is lot 19, Bonhams, 'Fine European Ceramics', 7 December 2017.
Collection
Accession number
C.53-1968

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest