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Dear group members,

Trust that a group member may help to identify maker, function and period of this decorated silver box.

The box measures 39mm in width, 25mm in depth and 13mm in height. The top appears to be decorated with a forest scene in which 8 nymphs? are dancing and/or walking. The sides of the cover of the box are decorated with recurring petaled flowers, fleur de lis and other unidentified decorative element. The bottom sides of the box are decorated with recurring grapes, leaves and petaled flowers.

Five hallmarks are on bottom of box as follows: 1. Rampant figure (horse?) in cartouche at upper left. 2. Figure 12 in cartouche upper right. 3. KUE in cartouche at center; the K is my best guess as to the first letter and is quite tentative. 4. 800 at lower left. 5. Unicorn? or horse? rampant at lower right. Item weighs 18.9 grams.

After examining the information provided by the group, I was unable to identify the maker, country of origin, function or period when produced. I am not expert in these matter, so I may have missed something that would have allowed me to attribute the item.

Although I may be incorrect, it seemed to me that the item should be posted in this forum. It seems to me European but not English, Dutch, German, French or Scandinavian.

This is my first post and am trying to help an older friend identify the item. This item was from his mother's estate.

Please examine digital images of the box and the hallmarks, at the URL below.

Thank you for taking the time to help.

Yours sincerely,

Steven Schor

http://www.geocities.com/lhnumiswebspace/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hello,
why shoudn´t it be german? I would think it was made at Schwäbisch Gmünd,Germany. Gebrüder Kühne.
Have a look here
http://www.925-1000.com/Fgerman_marks_a1884.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Hochachtungsvoll
Silvy

Hello Silvy,

Many thanks for identifying the maker and country of origin. My skills at attributing silver are woefully inadequate.

Was the box made to hold snuff?, spices? or other use? Was it made for a lady or gentleman? These are questions that I will have to research further.

With kindest regards, I am,

Yours sincerely,

Steven Schor

Dear Steve, because of the size this looks like a snuff box to me. This was mainly a man's item where was kept the tobacco which they used to snuff.

Hope this could help

Best Regards
Myriam

P.S. I fully agree with Silvy for the origin and maker.

Dear Myriam,

Thank you for your help in attributing the box. The thing that led me astray concerning the attribution was the fact that there was a lack of crescent moon and crown hallmark. This caused me to dismiss the possibility of an attribution to Germany. The other hallmarks on my box are not present in the example of Gebruder Kuhne on the Forum sight for Germany, except for 800 and what I assume is a Unicorn. This further confused me.

If I am not mistaken, the Unicorn hallmark seems to be definitive for this maker.

Thanks too, for your attribution of Snuffbox. My older friend will be glad to know this as well. I appreciate your taking the time to help.

With kindest regards, I am,


Yours sincerely,


Steven Schor

Hi Steven,
It certainly is confusing when German silver pieces lack the Moon & Crown. There is some discussion of it in this post.
http://www.925-1000.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6048" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The additional marks on your piece are unusual, I suspect, but may well be wrong, that they indicate later manufacture and that it is a pillbox rather than a snuffbox.

Regards, Tom

Personally, would favour a pillbox over a snuffbox - bit late for a snuff box perhaps?

Waylander

Hello, this is really a box sold by Kühn (by the way it is >Gebrüder Kühn<, founded in 1860). The pic:





is taken from an undated trade catalogue of Kühn’s (which I date around 1970, give or take a few). The handle is a little different, though. The catalogue calls this a “Bonbonniere” (candy-box), but all the other little boxes on the catalogue page look like pill boxes, too, so I guess they just did not want to call it what it is.

The marks are a little strange. The unicorn without the frame is the one used by Kühn, but I did not see the one in the frame before. Also I find the “12” together with the “800” baffling. I do not believe that a German maker would use that combination, as the “12” might be mistaken for the oldfashioned fineness measured in “Lot”.

So I believe that Kühn was just the retailer here and that the piece was actually made somewhere else. Because of the style, Hanau would come to mind, but I exclude that because of the marks. I rather believe this was made in Italy für Kühn and that some of the “baffling” marks were punched for internal use by the actual maker.
Best wishes, Bahner

Dear Bahner and Waylander,

Thank you both for your opinions, comments and scholarship. Your ideas are much appreciated and add a good deal to explain and attribute the item. Please accept my kindest regards.

Yours sincerely,


Steven Schor