Mother of pearl and unmarked silver snuff box

Description

Mother of pearl and unmarked silver snuff box. Item 4788.The lid of this mother of pearl and silver snuff box features a large lozenge shaped chess board like device, and each of the seventy-two small spaces in the lozenge once held a small brass, or perhaps gold, pin head. Unfortunately most of these have disappeared over time. The base is also mother of pearl and the silver is unmarked. It measures 65 mm (2.5 inches) in width, 50 mm (2 inches) in depth and stands 30 mm (1.25 inches) high. It is structurally sound, but there is some corrosion/staining to the silver in the interior. It was probably made on the Continent and would date from the mid to late 1700’s.