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Shell shaped tortoiseshell snuff box

Image attached to M.75-1961

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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About this image

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

Colours in this image

rgb(84,81,76), rgb(212,211,209), rgb(184,184,184), rgb(158,154,145), rgb(189,176,158), rgb(29,23,23), rgb(137,126,112), rgb(132,131,132), rgb(53,38,26), rgb(208,196,156), rgb(164,180,180)

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The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Shell shaped tortoiseshell snuff box" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-187538 Accessed: 2024-03-29 14:36:23

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{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-187538 |title=Shell shaped tortoiseshell snuff box |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-03-29 14:36:23|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa30/M_75_1961_1_201406_jas244_mas.jpg"
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        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Shell shaped tortoiseshell snuff box</figcaption>
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