Snuffbox, chrysoprase, Berlin, 1765

This box forms part of the group of snuffboxes associated with Frederick II, the Great of Prussia (r.1740-86). The chrysoprase body was carved from a single stone and richly set with hardstones and diamonds. Chrysoprase was a particular favourite of Frederick. It was mined in Silesia, the first territory which he added to Prussia by conquest in 1740.

In his final illness, specimens of polished and rough chrysoprase, as well as his jewels and boxes, were laid out for him to see. The diamonds have been coloured by being set over pale pink, green and lemon yellow metal foils. For more information, see A. Minter et al, Masterpieces in Miniature: Treasures from the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection (London: V&A Publishing, 2021), p.105. Sir Arthur and Rosalinde Gilbert began collecting in the 1960s and over a period of 40 years formed one of the world’s great private collections of decorative arts. The collection consists of over 800 objects from the fields of European gold and silver, Italian mosaics and hardstone, portrait enamels and gold boxes.

Sir Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996 to be housed at Somerset House, London, having previously been displayed at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). In 2008 the collection was moved to dedicated galleries in the V&A, where a selection has been on permanent display ever since. An oval, jewelled, gold-mounted green hardstone snuffbox, the chrysoprase body carved from a single piece of stone, mounted in gold, and set with a broad band of scrolls and flowers in diamonds set in gold over pale pink, green and lemon-yellow foil, four larger cushion-cut diamonds set over pale pink foils at the front, back and on either side along the border of the lid, four slightly smaller cushion-cut diamonds also over pink foils set equidistant in the border between the larger stones.

The base similarly encrusted with a spray of flowers and scrolls, the hinged lid mounted in varicoloured gold chased with flowers and scrolls and set with a profusion of foiled diamond flowers, hardstone sprays, and a scrolling gem set trellis. The interior of the lid is bordered by gold pierced and engraved with flowers and scrolls.