A very rare Queen Anne/ George I "Bacchus on a Barrel" Silver mounted Tortoiseshell Snuff Box. Made, most probably, in London circa 1714.
A very rare Queen Anne/ George I "Bacchus on a Barrel" Silver mounted Tortoiseshell Snuff Box. Made, most probably, in London circa 1714.
375391
The box has an unusual deep oval form with silver sides decorated with reeding. The base is inset with a tortoiseshell panel and the cover is attached to the sides with a stand away hinge. The cover is also inset with a tortoiseshell panel with the most beautiful, and very unusual, silver overlay which is pierced and engraved. As you will see the cover depicts various linear bands decorated with Rococo shells and an outer frame of foliate motifs. The bands are interspersed with architectural columns with caryatid heads at the top and the centre, most unusually, displays a very unusual portrayal of "Bacchus on a Wine Barrel", holding a wine flask in his hand. Bacchus was the Roman God of Wine and this is a most unusual subject to be found on such a box. Considering its size, it has a length of 3 inches, a width of 1.95 inches and a height of 0.75 inches.
The box is contained within a red leather silk and velvet lined box from the silver and jewel dealers, Parkes, 12, Vigo Street, Regent Street, London. It was obviously purchased from Parkes as a gift as the cover is embossed with:
PETER MAC INTYRE EVANS
FROM
ALDERSON HORNE
1927 - 1928
Our heraldic advisor has looked into this and concluded that Alderson Horne was Alderson Burrell Horne (1863-1953) who was a British theatre director and younger brother of William Edgar Horne (1856-1941) chairman of the Prudential Assurance Company from 1928 to 1941. Their father had also been head of the Prudential. Peter Mac Intyre Evans lived at 190, Sussex Gardens W2 and died in 1944. According to his death notice he had been a CBE and a Doctorate of Law. He was born on 3rd December 1859 and studied at Oxford, receiving his Doctorate of Law from Leeds, He got his CBE in 1933 and was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.
RELATED ITEMS
![](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://marycooke.co.uk/british-silver-1649-1759/a-very-rare-queen-anne-george-i-bacchus-on-a-barrel-silver-mounted-tortoiseshell-snuff-box-made-most-probably-in-london-circa-1714&media=https://seek-unique-co.s3.amazonaws.com/marycooke-8876-Qfhef-OE67/stock/680cd902c91e9_image_url_sl400a.jpg&description=The box has an unusual deep oval form with silver sides decorated with reeding. The base is inset with a tortoiseshell panel and the cover is attached to the sides with a stand away hinge. The cover is also inset with a tortoiseshell panel with the most beautiful, and very unusual, silver overlay which is pierced and engraved. As you will see the cover depicts various linear bands decorated with Rococo shells and an outer frame of foliate motifs. The bands are interspersed with architectural columns with caryatid heads at the top and the centre, most unusually, displays a very unusual portrayal of "Bacchus on a Wine Barrel", holding a wine flask in his hand. Bacchus was the Roman God of Wine and this is a most unusual subject to be found on such a box. Considering its size, it has a length of 3 inches, a width of 1.95 inches and a height of 0.75 inches. The box is contained within a red leather silk and velvet lined box from the silver and jewel dealers, Parkes, 12, Vigo Street, Regent Street, London. It was obviously purchased from Parkes as a gift as the cover is embossed with: PETER MAC INTYRE EVANSFROMALDERSON HORNE1927 - 1928 Our heraldic advisor has looked into this and concluded that Alderson Horne was Alderson Burrell Horne (1863-1953) who was a British theatre director and younger brother of William Edgar Horne (1856-1941) chairman of the Prudential Assurance Company from 1928 to 1941. Their father had also been head of the Prudential. Peter Mac Intyre Evans lived at 190, Sussex Gardens W2 and died in 1944. According to his death notice he had been a CBE and a Doctorate of Law. He was born on 3rd December 1859 and studied at Oxford, receiving his Doctorate of Law from Leeds, He got his CBE in 1933 and was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. ){kind=link}