A gold and enamel snuff box, Hanau, circa 1795

A gold and enamel snuff box

Hanau, circa 1795

rectangular with cut corners, the lid painted with strolling figures around a lake by a watermill, the turquoise sky centred with an oval panel, en grisaille, with 'the birth of Shakespeare', after Angelica Kauffmann, the seated figure of Fantasy nursing the infant Shakespeare, masks representing Comedy and Tragedy to one side, the sides and base with opaque blue enamel bordered by gold paillon ribbons and within white enamel borders, interlaced S and sunray marks, the rim numbered in script: 2350

8.8 cm, 3 ½ in. wide