A mid-18th century aventurine glass and ormolu snuff box with an enamel cover, (211018) possibly Battersea, circa 1755, rectangular form, foliate decorated gilt mounts, the hinged cover depicts Europa and the bull being crowned by nymphs and Cupid, the inside cover shows a courting couple, the base and sides are made up of panels of aventurine glass, length 7.8cm. Provenance: A Private Collection. Purchased from Bonhams, 19 October 2001, lot 2. Bonhams wrote of this lot 'Aventurine glass is rarely seen in conjunction with enamel. A box illustrated by Watney and Charleston, Petitions for Patents, ECC Trans, vol 6, pt 2, pl 113c, has a similar brown aventurine base with re-used Battersea prints on the lid. Susan Benjamin, English Enamel Boxes (1978), p 66, illustrates a box with a similar base, the lid curiously combining marbled glass and painted enamel. The prints on the present lot are from a group almost certainly designed by James Gwin and engraved by Simon-Francois Ravenet for Janssen's enamel factory at York House, Battersea.'