A very rare Vincennes silver-mounted octagonal snuff-box, circa 1745-50. Photo Bonhams

Moulded with a border of palmettes around the centre, painted in purple with floral motifs, pierced with two holes at the rear, the lower body with an oval foliate and trellis cartouche on either side enclosing a landscape scene, the sides with flowering branches, the cover moulded with a palmette motif in the centre, embellished in purple and enclosed by a flowering branches tied with a ribbon, the inside cover painted with a scene of ships on a river by a town, 6cm across; 3.7cm high - Estimate: £7,000 - 9,000, € 8,000 - 10,000, US$ 12,000 - 15,000

Literature: Beaucamp-Markowsky 1988, no. 94

Exhibited: Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, 1972(?)-2003;
London, Gilbert Collection, Somerset House, 2003-2008;
Barnard Castle, Co. Durham, The Bowes Museum, 2008-2010

Bonhams. The Helmut Joseph Collection of Important Snuff Boxes, 5 Jul 2011. London, New Bond Street www.bonhams.com