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A gilt-metal-mounted rectangular snuff box, possibly St. Petersburg, circa 1770 image 1

A gilt-metal-mounted rectangular snuff box, possibly St. Petersburg, circa 1770 image 2

A gilt-metal-mounted rectangular snuff box, possibly St. Petersburg, circa 1770 image 3

Lot 58

A gilt-metal-mounted rectangular snuff box, possibly St. Petersburg, circa 1770

The Helmut Joseph Collection of Important Snuff Boxes

5 July 2011, 10:30 BST

London, New Bond Street

Sold for £9,600 inc. premium

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A gilt-metal-mounted rectangular snuff box, possibly St. Petersburg, circa 1770

Each side of the box moulded with trophies, the cover with a moulded bust of Athena en profil, the inside of the cover painted with a detailed scene depicting Timoclea before Alexander the Great, 9.1cm wide

Footnotes

Provenance:
General Matthew Tolstoy, Adjudant to Czarina Catherine II;
Sold Christie's Geneva, 11 May 1983, lot 9

Literature:
Beaucamp-Markowsky 1988, no. 101

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

Another closely similar box is in the collection of the Design Museum Denmark (formerly the Kunstindustriemuseet), published by Heine 1937, cat.no. 37.

The scene depicted goes back to the engraving of the same subject by Nicholas Lesuer (1691-1764), based on the original drawing by by Taddeo Zuccaro. Another Chiaroscuro woodcut of the same subject is in the collection of the British Museum, inv. no. 1955,1109.9.

Timoclea of Thebes is mentioned by Plutarch in descriptions of the life of Alexander the Great. When the forces of Alexander the Great seized Thebes during Alexander's Balkan campaign of 335 BC, Thracian forces pillaged the city, and the captain of the Thracian forces raped Timoclea, a lady of high birth. After raping her, the captain asked if she knew of any hidden money. She tricked him and told him that she did, and led him into her garden and pointed into the well. When the Thracian captain climbed into the well, she filled the well with stones and killed him. Led before Alexander the Great, Timoclea defended her case heroically, and, impressed by her family background, Alexander ordered her release. The scene on the inside of the box depicts the moment Alexander the Great frees Timoclea. The ruler is centrally seated and points to the left, where Timoclea is seen standing, soldiers observing the scene on either side.

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