246 - Rare Meissen snuffboxes in the shape of an envelope: rectangular, designed to resemble a letter, with a silver-gilded hinged lid. The underside features a red wax seal in relief. The top is inscribed in black lettering with the motto “a Celle qui sait se taire.” On the inside of the lid, a sweeping landscape depicting a shepherd’s scene or a gathering of four people, surrounded by sheep and a lamb. In the background, a view of a castle complex. The inside of the base features a blue-patterned lining with flowering branches set within white quatrefoil arches. Fine polychrome painting. Gilded silver mount, France, after 1798. Unidentified maker’s mark. H. 2.5 cm. 9 cm x 6 cm.

Rare Meissen snuffboxes in the shape of an envelope: rectangular, designed to resemble a letter, with a silver-gilded hinged lid. The underside features a red wax seal in relief. The top is inscribed in black lettering with the motto “a Celle qui sait se taire.” On the inside of the lid, a sweeping landscape depicting a shepherd’s scene or a gathering of four people, surrounded by sheep and a lamb. In the background, a view of a castle complex. The inside of the base features a blue-patterned lining with flowering branches set within white quatrefoil arches. Fine polychrome painting. Gilded silver mount, France, after 1798. Unidentified maker’s mark. H. 2.5 cm. 9 cm x 6 cm. A small collection of Meissen snuff boxes in the shape of an envelope is part of the “Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection” and has been made available to the Victoria and Albert Museum. See cat. Röbbig, Meissen Snuff Boxes, Fig. III.2; Collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Inv. No. LOAN:GILBERT.501-2008, .500-2008, and 502-2008; Beaucamp-Markowsky, Cat. Porcelain Boxes, No. 119. A rare gilt-silver-mounted porcelain snuff box in the form of a sealed letter. Unidentified master’s mark. Meissen. Circa 1755.