Stock No. 2681	Rare silver- mounted mother-of-pearl snuff box
	Most unusual and rare silver-mounted, mother-of-pearl snuff box carved with a naval scene. Circa 1698 - 1710. Unmarked. Arms of Courthope. The sides of the box are of plain silver with a band of reeding round the base. The pull-off lid is mounted with a reeded edge of silver. The actual lid is made of mother-of-pearl and is carved into a naval scene. The scene shows a sailor standing on shore holding a ship in sail by a long rope out at sea. There is a word-bubble coming out of the sailor's mouth but the words are no longer legible. Up in the sky, a winged ancient mariner, draped in a cloth, is transporting a naked female with arms outstretched who has a word- bubble coming out of her mouth which says ". FEAR . NOUGHT". The outside base of the box is plain but the inside is carved with the arms and crest of the very old Courthope family in Sussex.

Condition :-Excellent, considering its age. Although this box has obviously been used, it has been used with enormous care. Mother-of-pearl is a rather fragile medium for a box but there are only a couple of small chips and a few small cracks on one side of the base near the silver border. The carved lid is still in very good condition and the naval scene is still very well defined except that the words in the word-bubble coming out of the mouth of the seaman standing on the shore can no longer be read.
Circa :- 1698
Size :- 2.8 inches (7.1 cm) diameter x 1 inch (2.5 cm) high
A great deal of research has been devoted on this box. It was probably owned by James Courthope who was "one of the new Company of East India Merchants, incorporated by charter in 1698", commonly known as the East India Company. The British Library has a transcript of a manuscript titled "Minute Book of James Courthope" which covers the periods December 1697 - July 1698 and December 1698 - May 1699. There is an enormous amount of history here. It is most likely that the scene on the lid illustrates how very safe it is to transport human beings or merchandise with the East India Company. The box was either made for James Courthope's personal use or it was one of a few made to give as gifts to very special clients with the Courthope arms and crest tucked inside the base to remind the user of the donor. All in all, a delightful object and a real collector's piece.

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