A JEWELLED THREE COLOUR GOLD IMPERIAL PORTRAIT PRESENTATION SNUFF BOX, J. WAGNER & SOHN, BERLIN, CIRCA 1890 | A jewelled three colour gold imperial portrait presentation snuff box, J. Wagner & Sohn, Berlin, circa 1890

rectangular with rounded corners, the lid applied with a portrait miniature on ivory of Emperor William II (1871–1888) in the style of Johann Zehngraf, below the Imperial crown, frame and olive branches set with rose diamonds and sapphires on a faux bois ground within a border of chased gold scrollwork and flowers, the sides elaborately engraved with scrollwork, each corner applied with a flower bouquet, the base engraved with a flower-filled urn within foliage, maker’s mark, imperial crown in a circle, further struck:585’ and numbered: 3768 in the fitted silk-lined red velvet original case stamped with the Imperial crown, the lining of the lid with gold lettering 'J. Wagner & Sohn/Kgl.Hofjuweliere/Berlin/Unter den Linden No 30'

Wolfgang Scheffler, Berliner Golschmiede. Daten, Werke, Zeichen, Berlin, 1968, nr. 1353 and 1819;
Silke Hellmuth, Jules Wièse und sein Atelier. Goldschmiedekunst des 19. Jahrhunderts in Paris, Berlin, 2010;
Kaiserliches Gold und Silber. Schätze der Hohenzollern aus dem Schloss Huis Doorn, Berlin, 1986

Overall crisp condition. The miniature would benefit from light cleaning. Clear marks. The original fitted case in very good condition as well. Overall weight 182.5 g.
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The firm of Johann Wagner & Sohn was founded in Berlin by the engraver and jeweller Jean (Johann) Adam Wagner (1761-1840) who had been appointed court jeweller to the Prussian court before 1818. Jean Adam Wagner was trained as an engraver and jeweller and in 1789 had married Jeanne Chrétienne Boehringer from Hanau. They had four sons, with two sons continuing their father’s tradition: the second son, Johann Carl Eduard (1798-1873), trained as a jeweller with his father and submitted a gold box as his masterpiece at the end of his apprenticeship; the third son, Carl Ludwig (Charles Louis) Wagner (1799-1841), received a similar education, became master goldsmith in 1823, and subsequently moved to Paris, where he promoted the revival of old medieval metal-working techniques, such as niello (see footnote to lot xx). In 1824 Johann Carl Eduard, who had remained in Berlin, married Jeanne Auguste Devrient and became an assay master in 1825. On his father's death, however, he took over the firm, styled ‘Königliche Hofjuweliere Johann Wagner und Söhne’, that supplied the court of King Frederick William III (1798-1840), as well as royalty and nobility throughout Europe. When Carl Eduard died in 1873, his son Emile August Albert Wagner (born 1826), took over and went into partnership with François Louis Jérémie Sy (1827-81) in the company ‘Sy & Wagner’. In 1855, Albert Wagner was appointed court jeweller to the Prussian court, which once again led to success for this old family firm of jewellers. In 1859, Albert Wagner also took over the firm of the renowned goldsmith Johann George Hossauer. From 1824, the firm is recorded in Jägerstrasse 52 in Berlin until in 1869, they opened new premises at the prestigious address ‘Unter den Linden 30’ in Berlin, where they manufactured and retailed objects of vertu, jewellery and silver, some of which were shown at the World Exhibitions. Friedrich Wilhelm von Hohenzollern ascended to the throne as the last German Emperor and King of Prussia on 15 June 1888, and Johann Wagner & Sohn continued to supply his court with orders, jewellery and presentation pieces such as the tabatière in the present lot.