Various special snuff boxes
Around the middle of the sixteenth century, it was the French diplomat and ambassador Jean Nicot (yes, of nicotine!) who brought tobacco to France, and with success. Queen Catherine de Medici was one of the most famous tobacco users of her time. Not as a stimulant, but as a medicine against her migraine. Because of her use, snuff was long referred to as ‘poudre de la reine’.
Through the use of snuff at the French court, the substance slowly spread throughout the rest of Europe. Often mixed with all kinds of aromatic herbs, snuff was seen around 1700 as the most elegant pleasure imaginable. And with this use came a new social etiquette. The user was expected to have at least one snuffbox or (in French) tabatière, in his possession, preferably several, matching the wardrobe and the season and to know the observance of the etiquette surrounding the use of snuff. This etiquette was precise: First, the snuffbox was grabbed with the left hand. Then the box was tapped once, it was opened and presented to the company. Then the side was tapped and the tobacco was taken from the tin with the right hand. After holding it in the fingers for a while, the tobacco was brought to the nose so that it could be sniffed without any grimace, after which the box was closed again.
The centre of production of these new snuffboxes was in France, where they quickly became a symbol of luxury and taste. They also became a popular gift and collector’s item. The most famous snuffbox collection is probably that of the Prussian king Frederick II, who owned hundreds of them. One of them even saved his life. During the Battle of Kunersdorf on 12 August 1759, during the Seven Years’ War, Frederick was hit by a bullet, or rather, his snuffbox was hit by a bullet, which is why he survived.
It can therefore be said that the snuffbox has been a very popular treasure since the eighteenth century, with examples in a variety of materials. Porcelain, silver, horn, copper, ivory or gold, nothing is too crazy for this 18th-century must-have.
Nowadays, snuff boxes are still a sought-after collector’s item, with the top segment being reserved for the gold specimens, often richly decorated with enamel and/or precious stones. We offer a number of special snuff boxes in this auction, originating from various private collections. Highlights include: lot number 1937; a tortoiseshell snuff box with portraits of Rousseau and Voltaire, lot number 2033; a silver snuff box with a mythological representation of Neptune, lot number 1938; a silver and carved ebony snuff box by the Amsterdam silversmith Jacobus Das, lot numbers 2034 and 2036; two gold enamelled snuff boxes with representations of Dido & Aeneas and the painting ‘Les premiers pas’ by Marguerite Gerard, lot number 2035; a gold snuffbox with an enamelled representation of the Battle of Ochakiv in 1737 and finally, lot number 2037, a gold snuffbox with a miniature portrait of a Prussian officer, set with diamonds.
