A Ludwigsburg gilt-metal mounted snuff-box

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THE PROPERTY OF THE LATE LORD WRAXALL REMOVED FROM TYNTESFIELD, SOMERSET OFFERED BY ORDER OF THE EXECUTORS William Gibbs (1790-1875), a banker with the family firm of Anthony Gibbs & Sons, settled at Tyntesfield in 1843; then called Tyntes Place, a small gabled house set in glorious rolling countryside. He set about making improvements that became a dramatic Gothic reconstruction, with an exquisite chapel designed by Sir Arthur Bloomfield to echo the Sainte Chapelle in Paris. The family were wealthy enough to be quietly and generously philanthropic, something that was continued in following generations. His son, Antony (1841-1907), an aesthete, eschewed a career in the family firm, preferring to concentrate on his travelling, antiquarian and art-collecting interests. He made further improvements to the fabric of the house, introducing electricity, warm-air heating, panelling and the charming and romantic Gothic verandah. Further minimal improvements were made by Antony's son, George Abraham (1873-1931) a Conservative member of Parliament, and his wife, Via (1880-1920). George Abraham was raised to the peerage in 1928. His second wife, the Hon. Ursula Lawley (1888-1979) and their son, Richard, 2nd Baron Wraxall, loved and cared for the house through the second half of the 20th Century. The house remained much unchanged throughout this period, until its recent purchase by the National Trust.

A Ludwigsburg gilt-metal mounted snuff-box

CIRCA 1770

Details

A Ludwigsburg gilt-metal mounted snuff-box
Circa 1770
Of D-shaped section with canted corners, the cover moulded with an urn issuing flowers, the box with branches of flowers and birds and painted with scattered insects, the interior of the cover painted in puce with figures by ruins in a landscape, the underside of the box with a figure in a river-landscape, with hinged gilt metal mount (crack to side at left of front)
3¼ in. (8.5 cm.) wide

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

A very similar example now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is illustrated by Vivian S. Hawes, Christina S. Corsiglia et. al., The Rita & Frits Markus Collection of European Ceramics & Enamels (1984), pp. 153-5, no. 50, and also by Barbara Beaucamp-Markowsky, Boîtes en Porcelaine, des Manufactures Européennes au 18e siècle (Fribourg, 1985), p. 377, no 310.

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