Snuffboxes

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These three silver snuffboxes were made in Russia. The two at the top date from the early nineteenth century. The one underneath dates from 1826 and was made in Moscow by an unidentified silversmith. The subject represented on the lids of all three boxes is Falconet's monument to Tsar Peter the Great, unveiled in St Petersburg in 1782.

The boxes are decorated with niello - a black mix used to fill and emphasise engraved lines.

After the Napoleonic Wars, Russian silversmiths began to produce large quantities of small silver rectangular boxes and other items decorated with niello. The principal subject was Falconet's monument but the Kremlin and St Basil's Cathedral became increasingly popular and feature prominently on snuff-boxes, beakers, tea services, cigarette cases and caviar containers made in St Petersburg and Moscow between 1840 and 1890.

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• Online ID: 000-180-000-037-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland Part 2
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• Ref: National Museums Scotland  
• Date: Early 19th century; 1826
  
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  • Evans, G. Souvenirs From Roman Times to the Present Day. Edinburgh: NMS Publishing Ltd, 1999, pp 40-1. 
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