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Tom's Coffee House snuffbox with Charles I and Queen Anne

Image attached to M.12 & A-1917

An image of Tom's Coffee House snuffbox. Snuff box/objets de vertu. Unknown makers. Tortoiseshell with embossed, chased and engraved silver plaques. Oval with straight sides. Applied to the top of the slightly domed pull-off lid are two silver portrait busts; the one on the left is of Charles I; the one on the right is of Queen Anne. Between the portraits is an applied and engraved silver tree-shape depicting the Boscobel Oak. Amongst the foliage is the head of Prince Charles, later Charles II, with a cherub above him holding out three crowns, symbolic of the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, to which he had succeeded in 1649, whilst either side of the trunk armed Parliamentarians search for the Prince. To the left and right of the horsemen 'Thomas’ and ‘Haines' are inscribed; and at the base is a ribbon containing the motto 'SACRA IOVI QUERCUS'. The tortoiseshell box and its lid were carved from a turtle shell. The pieces were then heated and pressed to form the parts of a box, which were then glued together. The silver plaques were stamped, embossed and chased or engraved, and mounted on the box using silver pins. Height, whole, 3.5 cm, length, whole, 11.0 cm, width, whole, 9.0 cm, after 1707-1730. English. Production Notes: The portrait of Charles I is after the memorial medal of Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria of 1649 by Heinrich Reitz the Younger. The portrait of Queen Anne is after the medal by John Croker, struck to commemorate the Union of England and Scotland on 1 May 1707. The silver does not bear a maker's mark or hallmarks.

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Tom's Coffee House snuffbox. Snuff box/objets de vertu. Unknown makers. Tortoiseshell with embossed, chased and engraved silver plaques. Oval with straight sides. Applied to the top of the slightly domed pull-off lid are two silver portrait busts; the one on the left is of Charles I; the one on the right is of Queen Anne. Between the portraits is an applied and engraved silver tree-shape depicting the Boscobel Oak. Amongst the foliage is the head of Prince Charles, later Charles II, with a cherub above him holding out three crowns, symbolic of the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, to which he had succeeded in 1649, whilst either side of the trunk armed Parliamentarians search for the Prince. To the left and right of the horsemen 'Thomas’ and ‘Haines' are inscribed; and at the base is a ribbon containing the motto 'SACRA IOVI QUERCUS'. The tortoiseshell box and its lid were carved from a turtle shell. The pieces were then heated and pressed to form the parts of a box, which were then glued together. The silver plaques were stamped, embossed and chased or engraved, and mounted on the box using silver pins. Height, whole, 3.5 cm, length, whole, 11.0 cm, width, whole, 9.0 cm, after 1707-1730. English. Production Notes: The portrait of Charles I is after the memorial medal of Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria of 1649 by Heinrich Reitz the Younger. The portrait of Queen Anne is after the medal by John Croker, struck to commemorate the Union of England and Scotland on 1 May 1707. The silver does not bear a maker's mark or hallmarks.

Image data

  • Accession Number: M.12 & A-1917
  • Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
  • Aperture: f/22.0
  • Focal length: 120
  • Camera: Hasselblad H3DII-31
  • Photographer name: Amy Jugg
  • Image height: 737 pixels
  • Image width: 1024 pixels
  • Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.6 (Macintosh)
  • Filesize: 182.30kB
  • Exposure time: 1/60
  • ISO Speed: 100
  • Fnumber: 22/1
  • Captured: 2014:03:28 16:23:39

Key words

18th Century Boscobel Oak Charles II Date Department English Fitz_AA Material Object Type Other Keywords Queen Anne Silver Stewart Period Stuart Period Workflow _WF_AdOK _WF_KWD _WF_OPACtd _WF_PCtd box busts chased consort container embossed engraved inscribed kings lidded monarchs monarchy oak tree oaks objet de vertu oval parliamentarian plaque political politician portraits queen royal royalty rulers snuff box tobacco box tortoise-shell tortoiseshell trees turtle shell turtleshell

Colours in this image

rgb(148,145,143), rgb(82,80,81), rgb(208,208,207), rgb(168,174,176), rgb(17,13,14), rgb(121,128,130), rgb(145,161,174), rgb(40,22,17), rgb(50,39,30), rgb(105,114,125), rgb(180,148,132)

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The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Tom's Coffee House snuffbox with Charles I and Queen Anne" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-187362 Accessed: 2024-03-29 10:50:07

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{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-187362 |title=Tom's Coffee House snuffbox with Charles I and Queen Anne |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-03-29 10:50:07|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Tom's Coffee House snuffbox with Charles I and Queen Anne</figcaption>
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