54
Tobacco scratcher with polychrome enamels, Limoges, 17th century
Height x width: 17 x 6.5 cm. Weight: 39 g.
oval shaped metal, decorated with polychrome enamels depicting in the centre a miniature portrait of a noblewoman, set in a frame, with a bucolic background showing two sheep on the left and, at the top, floral decorations.
On the back, the grater typical of these tools is missing, a generally rough or toothed part. The tobacco grater in the 17th century was a tool used to prepare snuff, as tobacco was sold in leaves or in compressed bunches, and therefore had to be reduced to a fine powder in order to be inhaled according to the common usage of the time.
Snuff was very popular among the European upper classes in the 17th century, considered a sign of sophistication and social status.
Live auction 327
Curiosities from European and Oriental Art
Curiosities from European and Oriental Art
Silvers, Ivories, Corals, Icons and Wunderkammer
Palazzo Caetani Lovatelli, tue 25 February 2025
FIRST SESSION
25/02/2025 Hours 12:00 pm
Lots 1/167
SECOND SESSION
25/02/2025 Hours 04:00 pm
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