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I have this beautiful little French box, but I cannot identify the maker. I wonder if anyone would be kind enough to help. Unfortunately, the mark may be incomplete. There is an obvious E, but an opposing blank area which may be missing the surname initial. Above is a crown and below may be a crescent moon. I have no idea at all of date, other than to say it is probably late 19th century.

Many thanks for any help!

Best regards,

Silverk

Hello

I believe the maker of your box is Edme Picard, initials E.P., symbol a crown and a crescent (une couronne et un croissant). Picard specialized in snuff boxes (la tabatière). He registered marks on 3 February 1849, 16 May 1846, and 13 June 1860, erased 15 April 1864. He first worked at 114 rue Saint-Martin, then at no. 186 on the same street. Picard was successor to Claude Louis Jonquoy, also a maker of snuff boxes.

Regards.

See Arminjon II, no. 01541, p. 154.

Picard’s second mark was registered on 16 May 1856, not 1846. Sorry for the typo.

Thanks very much indeed for that very detailed response, and for replying so quickly. Do you have any idea which of the three marks is on the box?

It's a little older than I thought; amazing that what I think is the original gilding is so well retained.

Silverk.

You're welcome!
The mark didn’t change in appearance, but makers have to re-register when they change address, as Picard did. I don’t know why he re-registered for the third time. In any case, Picard’s working dates were 1849-1864, a fairly narrow window for dating a French 19th C object.
Regards.

Ah, thanks very much for clarifying that. That must have been a real pain for the makers who didn't change their marks!

By the way, and at the risk of prolonging this thread, now that I know the name, I found another reference to him on the forum but there's a slight difference in date, namely that the mark was erased on 15 April 1874. Would you be kind enough to clarify whether it was 1864 or 1874?

https://www.925-1000.com/forum/viewtopi ... 74#p192134

Many thanks,

Silverk.

Charles Edme Picard

Born: 12 Mar 1831, Paris, son of Nicolas Edme Picard & Marie Pauline Desplat
Married: 18 Jan 1855, Paris, to Louise Helen Petit (31 Dec 1836-5 Jan 1891)
Died: 26 Jan 1909, Charenton-le-Pont, Seine (now Val-de-Marne)

He is listed in the 1891 voter list and in the 1891 and 1896 census as a silversmith and jeweler in Saint Maurice, a suburb of Paris near Charenton. He, his wife and parents were all buried in Pere Lachaise.