Shell shaped tortoiseshell snuff box

An image of Snuff Box. Objets de vertu. Unknown, maker. The silver does not bear a maker's mark or hallmarks. Shell-shaped with straight sides. The slightly domed lid has stepped silver mounts, two projecting hinges and an arched thumbpiece. The top is decorated to resemble a shell with twelve ribs dividing the surface into thirteen panels. These contain stylised pendant flowers and, in the centre, a naked woman with a cherub on either side. On the base is an impressed plant shape, which would originally have contained a silver piqué ornament. The tortoiseshell was carved from a turtle shell, which was heated and pressed to form the parts of a box, which were glued together. The silver mounts were fitted round the rim of the box and the two hinges were attached with screws. The silver piqué was inlaid and engraved. Height, whole, 1.9 cm, length, whole, 9.3 cm, width, whole, 6.8 cm, 1710-1740.

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Snuff Box. Objets de vertu. Unknown, maker. The silver does not bear a maker's mark or hallmarks. Shell-shaped with straight sides. The slightly domed lid has stepped silver mounts, two projecting hinges and an arched thumbpiece. The top is decorated to resemble a shell with twelve ribs dividing the surface into thirteen panels. These contain stylised pendant flowers and, in the centre, a naked woman with a cherub on either side. On the base is an impressed plant shape, which would originally have contained a silver piqué ornament. The tortoiseshell was carved from a turtle shell, which was heated and pressed to form the parts of a box, which were glued together. The silver mounts were fitted round the rim of the box and the two hinges were attached with screws. The silver piqué was inlaid and engraved. Height, whole, 1.9 cm, length, whole, 9.3 cm, width, whole, 6.8 cm, 1710-1740.

Image data

Accession Number: M.75-1961
Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Aperture: f/32.0
Focal length: 120
Camera: Hasselblad H3DII-31
Photographer name: Jaymes Sinclair
Image height: 774 pixels
Image width: 1024 pixels
Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.6 (Macintosh)
Filesize: 249.31kB
Exposure time: 1/60
ISO Speed: 100
Fnumber: 32/1

Key words

18th Century Date Department Fitz_AA Material Medium Object Type Other Keywords Silver Workflow _WF_AdOK _WF_KWD _WF_OPACtd _WF_PCtd box carved cherubs container engraved engraving female nude hinged inlaid inlay lidded nude objet de vertu shells silver pique snuff box tobacco box tortoise-shell tortoiseshell turtle shell turtleshell

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            The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025)
            "Shell shaped tortoiseshell snuff box"
            Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/image/media-187538 Accessed: 2025-12-05 08:04:23

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            |title=Shell shaped tortoiseshell snuff box
            |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-05 08:04:23|publisher=The
            University of Cambridge}}

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        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Shell shaped tortoiseshell snuff box</figcaption>
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