Lot 27
27
A VARI-COLORED GOLD MUSICAL AUTOMATON SNUFFBOX OF HISTORICAL INTEREST
A VARI-COLORED GOLD MUSICAL AUTOMATON SNUFFBOX OF HISTORICAL INTEREST

THE AUTOMATON SWISS, CIRCA 1810; THE BOX PROBABLY RUSSIAN, CIRCA 1827

Details
A VARI-COLORED GOLD MUSICAL AUTOMATON SNUFFBOX OF HISTORICAL INTEREST
The Automaton Swiss, circa 1810; The Box probably Russian, circa 1827
The glazed hinged cover enclosing a lady at the xylophone attended by a page turner who keeps time with a baton and a boy playing the triangle, in varicolored gold against a painted enamel interior, applied with a diamond-set Cyrillic monogram EP against blue guilloché enamel enclosed by a border inscribed in Cyrillic July 22, 1827, set in an octagonal box with chiselled borders of green gold wreaths, the sides applied with a yellow gold band, the base set with a panel of mocha agate, with key, apparently unmarked
3 in. (7.7 cm.) long
Provenance
Wartski, London
Exhibited
Antique Automata, New York, 1950, no. 62.

Lot Essay

The monogram EP is that of Elena Pavlovna, née Princess Charlotte of Wrtemburg (1807-1873). She married Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich (1798-1849) in 1824. The date July 22, 1827, applied to the automaton with the Grand Duchess's monogram, is the feast day of St. Mary Magdalen, thought to be the saint's day of Maria Feodorovna, mother of Mikhail Pavlovich. Maria Feodorovna was the aunt of Elena Pavlovna as well as her mother-in-law, and it is likely that this box was a gift from the generous Tsarina to her niece and daughter-in-law.