Ath 1763, Snuff Box From Louis XV Period In Sterling Silver

Very pretty snuff box or snuff box in solid silver from the Louis XV period. It is richly decorated and engraved with rocaille motifs and a character. This sumptuous snuff box from the Louis on the piece but it has not yet been identified. Rather large in size, its format suggests that it is a snuff box for men. In several documents of the time we see that their authors made the difference between boxes intended for men and those intended for ladies. The goldsmiths of the town of Ath had great difficulty meeting their subsistence needs with orders from local customers. This is why they specialized in the manufacture of what their contemporaries called "menuties", that is to say small silver objects which could be easily exported to other cities in the Austrian Netherlands to be sold there on the annual markets or with merchants. This is why the hallmark of the city of Ath is clearly over-represented on the hands. snuff boxes, fly boxes, shoe buckles and other costume buttons found on the production of Belgian goldsmiths from the eighteenth century. It is in very good condition, the vermeil inside is slightly worn in places. It weighs 100 grams