1080 - French lidded box, black lacquered wood, lid 950 silver with Minerva head, fruit finial

French lidded box, black lacquered wood, lid 950 silver with Minerva head, fruit finial Wood and 950 silver, lidded box, France, lid hallmarked on the underside with the Minerva head and the numeral "1" and with the lozenge-shaped maker's mark, half covered by the screw fixing of the finial, containing the letters "N" and "L" and a bird with spread wings, round, flattened body of black lacquered wood on recessed foot ring, wall with profiled grooves, light, unlacquered wood inside, inset silver lid with ribbed, shaped domed top, finial in the form of a knobbed fruit on a leaf wreath. Good condition commensurate with age, lacquer rubbed. D. 14 cm, H. 8.5 cm, lid weight 134 g. The Minerva head is the French guarantee mark for silver, introduced on 10 May 1838 and continued in a modified design since 1973; the accompanying numeral 1 stands for the first standard of 950 thousandths, the numeral 2 for 800 thousandths. Minerva, the Roman patron goddess of crafts, gave the mark its name. Since 1838 French silversmiths have struck their maker's mark with initials and an emblem in a lozenge-shaped field.