Featured enamel top silver cigarett box country of manufacture?

never heard of that. seems a made-up "fact".
what is well-known though: when a good French customer asked for any mark he wished, the Swiss marked it that way. most of the stuff went over the frontier by night.
btw, also known from Gablonz; there are many glass parures that were marked "made in France" when still in Bohemia.

 

Kenneth Snowman coined the phrase in his book "Eigtheenth Century Gold Boxes of Europe", first published 1966. It has gained acceptance in collection and sale catalogs, and books and articles on the subject after that date. This is from the 2nd edition of that book:

 

All this explains why the gorgeous box I posted in one of the other box threads is described as Swiss yet has a French gold assay mark. I had wondered.

 

Hello
Interesting topic on marks,
That's why as I said in a previous post ,I buy the workmanship and quality that I see when I hold an item.If there is a mark and it is original it is a bonus.
with experience and looking at top quality items in museums ,fine collections (Wallace collection ,England etc) a fake is picked up very quickly when handled.

The price also may be a guide.

on fake marks, I recently purchased a small silver stand,that happens to have a Faberge mark on it.
The quality is quite good ,as I am not a Faberge expert and I have not seen or handled any of their items,I am not sure if it is real or fake, (chances are that it is fake mark)

For the price I paid I felt it was interesting enough to by it to have an example ,
of this mark,

 

Might be worthwhile to start a new thread and show the whole object as well as the mark.

 

more images of stand. In the Faberge book I have it says ,that Faberge marks were being faked in the early years of their production,so fake marks have been happening for a long time. Because of the high value of their goods.

 

So far as the stand is concerned: the marks are consistent with Moscow production 1908-17. The workmaster initials are for Julius Rappaport. Most Moscow work does not have a workmaster mark, but Rappaport was an exception, so that's consistent as well. The stand would fall within Rappaport's expertise. I can say that the marks look correct so far as form and content is concerned based on the drawings I've seen, but you would need someone with hands on experience to say if the stamps look like other Faberge stamps.

The roughness on the left of the hoof is worrying.

 

thank you for the copy. I will look into that after my coffees.

still - there is one point that goes forgotten. the Swiss didn't mark at all on small items for a very long time, and the main point - they had a much nearer highly renowned marketplace, Geneva. so no need for them to stamp fakes when not asked for by the customers. even on the French side of the border in the Besançon area they worked rather for Geneva and the horlogerie in nearby la Chaux-de-Fonds.

 

I see now where he comes from. indeed a certain resemblance to official marks.
is it possible they were used by French producers to cheat the taxes ?

 

Some info regarding the Julius Rappaport mark on Moscow Fabergé pieces:
http://www.ascasonline.org/articolofakeberge.html

Some examples of Fabergé marks:
http://www.silvercollection.it/faberge.html

 

Snowman is talking about a very small percentage of boxes, but does ascribe most such marks to Geneva.

Penalties in France were dire.

 

okay. doesn't make sense from a historical perspective, because Geneva never needed to fake anything. especially not Paris. furthermore it had access to southern markets by the Kingdom of Sardinia that included Savoy, too. so a direct access to the Mediterrean etc..
I wonder if anybody else wrote about these marks; nothing against this London gentleman but...

 

I think he would be conceded to be the leading authority of his day. I don't know of anyone considered to be more of an authority now. His knowledge came from decades of hands-on experience.

Before him, these marks were simply written off as false French. It's not that no one noticed.

 

I will look for the book. is it a good read ? what edition is the best ?

 

Eighteenth Century Gold Boxes of Europe, A. Kenneth Snowman
It's a large and heavy book, not the most comfortable to read. The 2nd edition (1990, Antique Collector's Club) is expanded with some boxes re-attributed from the 1st edition. The text is interesting but interspersed between pages of photographs. It's page after page of eye candy. If you can get it through a library, I'd suggest that's the way to go. If you're thinking of buying it, the 1st edition (1966, Faber & Faber) is probably less expensive.

 

I must try and find the Snowman book ,I think I looked at it I a library once.
Another great book I would recommend ,The Wallace Collection ,Catalogue of gold boxes, by Charles Truman 2013.

About $200.00
I bought it when I visited the collection. Spectacular boxes ,Fantastic quality book.

 

An image of a box ,from the ,give you and idea of the quality of the boxes and the standard of the images in the book.
Regards Giotto.





Regards Giotto

 

here they have one in London for 57 £.
ISBN : 1851490728
Title : Eighteenth Century European Gold Boxes
EAN : 9781851490721
Authors : Snowman, A.Kenneth
Binding : Hardcover
Publisher : ACC Art Books
Publication Date : 1999-01-01

I must order as long as the frontiers are still open. afterwards it's back to French and German.
would that be an acceptable edition and price ?

 

That price tends towards the high end according to what's currently available on Abebooks. If condition is "as new" it's reasonable. I think you have a year before the frontiers become an issue.

These books try to show the best of the best; not the sort of thing you are likely to come across at thrift stores or yard sales. These boxes were made for the rich, and it's still only the rich who can afford them. And there is still so much out there not in the books.

The cover of the Wallace Collection book shows an example of "basse taille" enameling.

 

thanks a lot. but London is still nearer than most sellers on abebook and no additional export/import fees. plus this guy asks 5 £ only for postage and he accepts paypal.