Rare Antique 1700s French Snuff Box, Vernis Martin Figural & Portrait Miniature Oil Painting, Ivory drafting original lined interior and working

original lined interior and working lock & key

wings unfurled and diving for the young kid chamois goat standing by the side of its mother

5" wide and a maximum 4" depth front to back

Fabulous antique Victorian hand painted portrait miniature

dedication engraved on back tells us that the hair inside is from a very beloved Martha Clarke

Rare Antique 1700s French Snuff Box, Vernis Martin Figural & Portrait Miniature Oil Painting, Ivory drafting original lined interior and workingAbsolutely French, this glorious hand painted in the manner of Vernis Martin (look up the process on the internet to learn more about this favorite decorative style of Marie Antoinette), this superb large snuff or patch box is a remarkable 200 years old and more the experts invariably date these to the Louis XIV period, late 1700s to earliest 1800s. I fully agree with them, and the museum piece you see here might well have spent time at Versailles