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Goldsmith: Vachette, Adrien-Jean-Maximilian
Tortoise shell box lined with gold; the lid and base inlaid with mother-of-pearl and gold piqué point
Tortoise shell inlaid with gold piqué point and mother-of-pearl and lined with gold. Rectangular with straight sides and hinged almost flat lid with oval button thumbpiece. The lid and recessed base have a border of yellow gold embossed with a guilloche pattern on a red gold ground. The lid is decorated with an openwork basket containing flowers and leaves; it stands on a plinth, either side of which are flying insects. The ground is spotted and the corners are chequered. The base is decorated with a two-handled vase containing exotic flowers; it stands on a plinth between a squirrel and exotic bird and two flying insects.
History note: Not known before testator
C.B. Marlay Bequest
Height: 3.0 cm
Length: 8.0 cm
Width: 5.9 cm
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1912-06-18) by Marlay, Charles Brinsley
18th Century, Late
Production date:
AD 1785
Box
composed of
tortoise shell
Decoration
composed of
mother-of-pearl
gold
Lining
composed of
gold
Accession number: MAR.M.285-1912
Primary reference Number: 150744
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Snuff box" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/150744 Accessed: 2025-07-20 17:04:58
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/150744
|title=Snuff box
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-07-20 17:04:58|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-150744
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa24/MAR_M_285_20_281_29.jpg"
alt="Snuff box"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Snuff box</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
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