Have always loved these old shoe snuff boxes, and there's a little boutique antique store behind St. Paul's in the Marais, Paris, where the dealer specializes in them and in Black Forest carvings, similar masculine items. I often drop by and just thrill at the old treasures, though he's priced much higher than we ever are, so I only rarely buy from him. But do stop in. You'll see that he has some of these late 1700s French (and sometimes Dutch) snow snuff boxes. One like this would be 1200 euro in his shop. Similar prices at the Paris Flea Market further north. Buy ours, visit Paris, pretend you bought it at his shop and let all that extra help you pay for your trip, I say. But do drop in and see his lovely old collection. This one is fabulous, still with the old carved bone profile portrait in the hinged lid, and while it's missing a little of the brass stringing or a pique 'nail' pin - not much, almost all of the rest of the brass stringing is still in place. A tabletop of these, displayed together, is one of my favorite collection displays. It's so hard to find these anymore. This one is 6" long. Other measurements noted on our photos.
Very good condition for age and type. A little bit of the old brass stringing missing, one piece at toe needs an adjustment, and I lack elbow grease enough to have polished the rest to finest finish, but you can see how lovely the old work is. No odors, no stains. And that hinge is still intact, which is getting more and more difficult to find. The carved profile is a female - also more rare to find. A museum quality piece, this! These were often thought of as made by sailors, or some say prisoners of war. But we think they were popular enough in their time to have been a cottage industry that drew many talented artisans. The variety is wonderful. Collect several! No chips, no cracks, no hairlines.
