Tobacco box, 1740 - 1760

Round box of oblate spherical shape, with a round lid with a gilt-silver hinge. The exterior is horizontally divided into two friezes featuring alternating cartouches and military trophies with cannons, banners, armour, and drums. In the lower zone, the cartouches contain small depictions of a sailing ship (beneath the hinge), a country house, a walled fortress by the sea, and a landscape with houses; in the upper zone, the cartouches are filled with identical garlands. Placed between each cartouche and trophy is a shell motif with a pendant and a stylized pendant leaf motif. The underside bears a coat of arms with a crest, depicting a rampant lion debruised by a bend charged with three stars (Nuyts family?). The whole is enclosed within a wreath of shells and garlands. The lid is decorated with a representation of four classical women, personifications of the Liberal Arts: in the centre Sculptura carving a bust, lower right Architectura (a woman with dividers, globe, and rectangle), standing on the right possibly Geometria with a set square, and on the far left an unidentified personification with a staff and book. The hinge exhibits a finely engraved pattern of rocaille-like motifs reminiscent of colonial silver. The Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, holds this object as BK-2012-63; its record gives material recorded as silver (metal), gilding (material), ivory; technique gild; measurements diameter 8.7 cm x height 5.5 cm. Description translated from the museum's Dutch catalogue text; details are those of this museum object, and how far it represents a wider type has not been independently verified.