Silver and niello tobacco box, Moscow, Russia 1879.

Moscow, Russia 1879.

Silver and niello snuffbox. The tobacco box, made of 84 zolotnik silver (875/1000) is rectangular in shape with a soap bar body, with rounded corners and rounded profiles. The entire decoration of the box is made with niello.
The upper part is recognizable by the blank central space intended for the engraving of the owner’s initials, never made. The tobacco box has an almost specular but not identical decoration on its upper and lower faces, denouncing its entirely handcrafted manufacture. Two smooth bands run along the edges intertwining at the corners. The spared interior is decorated with a series of branch and leaf motifs on a bed of burin stippling. The interior retains its original gilding. Moscow (mark of St. George slaying the dragon), Russia (84 zolotnik mark). Dated 1879.

1,75” – 3 CM H 4,4” – 11,5 CM L 2,8” – 7 CM D

REF: M4626