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.
€ 800,00 / 1.200,00
Estimate
€ 600,00
Starting price
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Live auction 327

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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