JAMES II. A very rare & early Squeezie Snuff Box made in London circa 1685 and stamped with the maker's mark of WI with a fish above.
JAMES II. A very rare & early Squeezie Snuff Box made in London circa 1685 and stamped with the maker's mark of WI with a fish above.
375021
The Box is rectangular in form, with cut corners, and a stand away nine lugged hinge. The base is engraved with pluming acanthus scrolls, contained within a frame of foliate spears. The slightly domed cover is decorated with identical scrolls and a foliate spear frame, however this piece unusually shows an engraved exotic bird in flight, in the centre. The box has a squeeze action opening mechanism and is in excellent condition. The interior of the base displays a very clear maker's mark which is often seen on items of this nature. A Snuff Box, of near identical design is shown in "Silver Boxes" by Eric Delieb, page 97, plate 153. An example by this maker is shown in "British Silver Boxes 1640-1840, The Lion Collection", page 55, sold by Mary Cooke Antiques in the 1990's.
By this period, the use of tobacco boxes were well established but it wasn't until the last quarter of the 17th century that snuff boxes really started to appear. This form of box seems to bear only a maker's mark or no marks at all. A common, but attractive, feature is the use of a sophisticated hinge in this case divided into nine sections.
Length: 2 inches, 5cm.
Width: 1.5 inches, 3.75 cm.
Height: 0.65 inches, 1.63 cm.
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![](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://marycooke.co.uk/british-silver-1649-1759/james-ii-a-very-rare-early-squeezie-snuff-box-made-in-london-circa-1685-and-stamped-with-the-makers-mark-of-wi-with-a-fish-above&media=https://seek-unique-co.s3.amazonaws.com/marycooke-8876-Qfhef-OE67/656e10b0ae5c3_image_url_CST5.jpg&description=The Box is rectangular in form, with cut corners, and a stand away nine lugged hinge. The base is engraved with pluming acanthus scrolls, contained within a frame of foliate spears. The slightly domed cover is decorated with identical scrolls and a foliate spear frame, however this piece unusually shows an engraved exotic bird in flight, in the centre. The box has a squeeze action opening mechanism and is in excellent condition. The interior of the base displays a very clear maker's mark which is often seen on items of this nature. A Snuff Box, of near identical design is shown in "Silver Boxes" by Eric Delieb, page 97, plate 153. An example by this maker is shown in "British Silver Boxes 1640-1840, The Lion Collection", page 55, sold by Mary Cooke Antiques in the 1990's.By this period, the use of tobacco boxes were well established but it wasn't until the last quarter of the 17th century that snuff boxes really started to appear. This form of box seems to bear only a maker's mark or no marks at all. A common, but attractive, feature is the use of a sophisticated hinge in this case divided into nine sections.Length: 2 inches, 5cm.Width: 1.5 inches, 3.75 cm.Height: 0.65 inches, 1.63 cm.){kind=link}