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Snuff box or Bonbonnière in the shape of a Woman's Head: EC.23-1938

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Current Location: In storage

Titles

Snuff box or Bonbonnière in the shape of a Woman's Head

Maker(s)

Factory: Unknown
Mount maker: Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

Hard-paste porcelain painted in enamels with gilt-metal mounts and cover engraved with foliage and a stylized floral spray

Hard-paste porcelain, moulded, painted overglaze in flesh-pink, pale mauve, a little red and blue, grey and black enamels, and mounted in gilt-metal with engraved decoration. The box is in the form of the front of the head of a masked lady wearing her grey hair (or wig) in rows of curles at the sides with a curled over peak in the centre bedecked with pale mauve and blue ribbons. Her cheeks and chin are flesh pin, and her mouth pale red. The gilt-metal mount is decorated with engraved foliage, and the hinged cover with a stylized floral spray within a border of scollops with feather edging. On the mount above the hinge there is a suspension loop.

Notes

History note: Unknown before donor

Legal notes

Cecil E. Byas Bequest

Measurements and weight

Height: 7.1 cm
Width: 5 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1938) by Byas, Cecil E.

Dating

19th Century
1830 - 1900

Note

Possibly French, certainly Continental Europe.

Components of the work

Cover composed of copper alloy ( probably) gold
Mount composed of copper alloy ( probably) gold
Front composed of hard-paste porcelain
Porcelain

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: EC.23-1938
Primary reference Number: 76913

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Monday 29 April 2024

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Snuff box or Bonbonnière in the shape of a Woman's Head" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/76913 Accessed: 2025-12-10 14:10:07

Citation for Wikipedia

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{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/76913 |title=Snuff box or Bonbonnière in the shape of a Woman's Head |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-10 14:10:07|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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