A ROYALIST COMMEMORATIVE GOLD-MOUNTED SNUFF-BOX

CONTINENTAL, 1814

细节

A ROYALIST COMMEMORATIVE GOLD-MOUNTED SNUFF-BOX
Continental, 1814
Rectangular dark box, opening on the short side, the cover applied with three white enamelled gold fleurs-de-lys, surmounted by a matted gold scroll with blue-enamelled inscription "Messe pour Le Roi 3 Juin 1814.", below chased and engraved gold branches of a palm tree and an olive tree tied by a ribbon, gold mount with plain thumbpiece, in silk and plush lined original red morocco case
84 mm. (3.1/4 in.) long (2)

来源

By repute presented to Viscount Castlereagh by King Louis XVIII of France.
Thence by descent.

拍品专文

Robert Stewart Castlereagh, British Foreign Secretary from 1812 to 1822, was one of the most talented diplomats of his time, and his skills facilitated the return of the exiled Bourbons on the French throne after Napoleon's first abdication on 12 April 1814. He left Paris for England on 2 June 1814, and on 4 June 1814 Louis XVIII was officially instated as King of France. The present box, commemorating Louis XVIII's private mass on 3 June, may have been offered shortly after.