A REGENCY ENAMELLED GOLD SNUFF-BOX

BY ALEXANDER JAMES STRACHAN (FL. 1799-1850), MARKED, LONDON, 1835/1836

Details

A REGENCY ENAMELLED GOLD SNUFF-BOX
BY ALEXANDER JAMES STRACHAN (FL. 1799-1850), MARKED, LONDON, 1835/1836
rectangular box, the cover, sides and base enamelled in translucent royal blue on an engine-turned ground, applied with bold gold rococo scrolls and flowers and foliage enamelled in red, pink and yellow with translucent green enamel leaves, the cover similarly set with colourfully enamelled exotic birds and a squirrel
3 5/8 in. (90 mm.) wide

Provenance

William Henry Smith (1792-1865), son of the founder of the newsagent and bookshop W.H. Smith Ltd.;
Sotheby's, London, 24 November 1980, lot 36.

Literature

A.K. Snowman, Eighteenth-century Gold Boxes of Europe, London, 1966, pl. 490.

Further details

For another box by this goldsmith see lot 206.

Brought to you by

David McLachlan

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Lot Essay

A gold and enamelled mother-of-pearl snuff-box attributed to A. J. Strachan and enamelled with parrots, flowers and a very similar central red squirrel was sold Sotheby's, London, 10 December 1973, lot 92. For a George IV enamelled gold scent-bottle, circa 1820, with enamelling possibly attributed to A. J. Strachan, and a George II enamelled gold snuff-box by Frederick de Veer (FL. 1731-1781), with later enamelled decoration by Strachan, very similar to the enamelling on the present lot, see Christie's, London, 8 December 2011, lots 5 and 121. Alexander James Strachan supplied gold boxes to the royal goldsmiths Rundell, Bridge & Rundell and Wakelin & Garrard. He was referred to as the 'Paul Storr of gold boxes' by Arthur Grimwade (London Goldsmiths, 1697-1837: Their Marks and Lives, London, 1976, pp. 672-73).

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