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Box

ca. 1750 - 1780 (made)
Artist/Maker
Josef Ade (maker)
Place of origin
Schwäbisch Gmünd (made)

silver snuffbox in the shape of a recumbent lion; a floral spray engraved on the lid


Object details

Category
Metalwork
Object type
Box
Materials and techniques
silver
Silver
Chasing
Engraved
Brief description
A silver tobacco box in the shape of a lion, Schwäbisch Gmünd, poss. Josef Ade, mid 18th century
Physical description
silver snuffbox in the shape of a recumbent lion; a floral spray engraved on the lid
Dimensions
  • Overall height: 6cm
  • Overall length: 8.5cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • Dutch tax mark in the shape of an axe (punched on rim of box near lion's tail; tax mark for silver with older marks that came back into circulation between 1853 and 1927)
  • Maker's mark IA in petal (on rim of box; recorded in Rosenberg 3 as mark of a maker in Schwäbisch Gmünd, possibly Jos. Ade (active 1748-1783))
  • poss. Schwäbisch Gmünd town mark, mid 18th century, nearly illegible (on rim of box, near right paw of lion; possibly Rosenberg 3, vol. 2, p. 110, BZ 2180.)
Credit line
Bequeathed by Josephine P. Fellows.
Object history
For identical examples see also: Sotheby's, Geneva, 11 November 1986, lot 143; Lempertz, Cologne, 24 June 1988, Kunstgewerbe, lot 1253 (lot entry states the interior is gilded; speculates whether this is re-gilding).
Subject depicted
Lion
Bibliographic references
  • Rosenberg, Marc. Der Goldschmiede Merkzeichen. 3rd edn. Vol. 2. Frankfurt a. M.: Frankfurter Verlags-Anstalt, 1923, p. 111, MZ 2198.
  • Scherer, Peter (ed.). Das Gmünder Schmuckhandwerk bis zum Beginn des XIX. Jahrhunderts. Schwäbisch Gmünd: Lemp Verlag, 1971.
Collection
Metalwork Collection
Accession number
M.53-1986

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O381301/box-josef-ade/
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