Snuffbox, porcelain, Meissen and Dresden, Germany, 1755

The Meissen Porcelain Manufactory, located about 25 km from Dresden, Germany, produced a large quantity of porcelain snuffboxes from about 1735 to 1765, a period which roughly coincided with the directorship of Heinrich Count von Brühl (1700-63). Von Brühl was himself a collector who possessed over 700 snuffboxes.

An inscription in French on the cover dedicates it 'To the most faithful, wherever she is found.' The inside cover shows a view of London, with St Olaf's church in the foreground, Old London Bridge and the Tower of London seen from the south bank of the river Thames. The box may have been commissioned from Meissen by an English customer. Rectangular gold-mounted hard-paste porcelain snuffbox in the form of a sealed letter, the cover painted in black with the inscription A LA PLUS FIDELLE, PARTOUT OU ELLE SE TROUVE bordered by flowers.

The interior of the cover is painted with a view of London, with St.Olaf's church in the foreground, Old London Bridge, and the Tower of London in the distance; the interior of the base is painted in blue with flower beads on a 'tiled' ground; the moulded exterior of the base painted with bands of flowers around a Minerva's head. The box is mounted in gold which is chased with undulating scrolls. Provenance: Private Collection, Zurich. Acquired by Arthur Gilbert from S.J. Phillips Ltd, London, 1996.