A magnificent gold-mounted Meissen Royal snuff-box
The Meissen Gold-mounted Royal Snuff Box, circa 1755, set a world record at Bonhams, London when it was sold for £860,000 ($1,370,000). This Royal snuff box made for Augustus III, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland. It was part of the Helmut Joseph’s collection of porcelain snuff boxes.
With intricate Dresden landscape on the inside of the cover painted after an engraving by Bernardo Bellotto, the box had attracted a pre-sale estimate of £100,000-150,000. After a protracted bidding battle on the telephones the hammer finally came down on the staggering price of £860,000. This is a world record price for a porcelain snuff box at auction. Nette Megens of Bonhams Ceramics Department comments, We are absolutely thrilled with the results of this sale. It was a fantastic collection that attracted the global interest it deserved – evident by the fantastic prices achieved.
The most important collection of porcelain snuff boxes assembled in the 20th century sold for a fantastic £1,700,000 ($2,700,000). Among the 80 pieces offered for auction, another Meissen snuff box from Queen Maria Amalia Christina of Naples and Sicily has achieved a remarkable price of £78,000 ($125,000). A gold mounted circular snuff box from Maria Josepha , Queen of Poland sold for £56,400 ($90,000) and an Ellwangen or Schrezheim gild-metal mounted oval snuff box sold for £52,800 ($84,000).
A Meissen box with Watteau green for Queen Marie Amalie Christiane
An important Ellwangen or Schrezheim gilt-metal-mounted oval snuff box with a portrait of Fürstprobst Anton Ignaz Josef Graf von Fugger,
A fine gold-mounted Meissen royal portrait snuff box
