Live Auction 21907Bayreuth: A Connoisseur's Collection of English Silver and Gold Boxes
A GEORGE III GOLD ROYAL PRESENTATION SNUFF-BOX
Lot 22

A GEORGE III GOLD ROYAL PRESENTATION SNUFF-BOX

BY ALEXANDER JAMES STRACHAN (FL. 1799 - C. 1850), LONDON, 1802

Closed7 July 2023

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GBP 9,450

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A GEORGE III GOLD ROYAL PRESENTATION SNUFF-BOX
BY ALEXANDER JAMES STRACHAN (FL. 1799 - C. 1850), LONDON, 1802
Shaped as a shell of tortoise, the lid engine-turned with diaper pattern within polished gold bands, engraved on the base with initials AE below a crown within laurel wreath, the borders engraved with flowers on a reeded ground, engraved in cover with an inscription, marked in base and in cover
21/2 in. (60 mm.) wide
2 oz. 1 dwt. (64 gr.)
The inscription reads: 'A Present from their R.R.H.H./ the Princesses Augusta and Elizabeth/ to Earl Harcourt/ 1803'.

The initials are those of Princess Augusta Sophia (1768-1840) and Princess Elizabeth (1770- 1840) daughters of King George III and Queen Charlotte.

George Simon Harcourt, 2nd Earl Harcourt (1736-1809), by bequest to his wife,
Elizabeth, Countess Harcourt (1746-1826), daughter of George Venables-Vernon, 1st Baron Vernon (1709-1780), by bequest to her nephew,
The Reverend Leveson Vernon Harcourt (1888-1860), son of the Rt. Hon. Most Reverend Edward Vernon-Harcourt, Archbishop of York (1757-1847), presumably then by descent,
The Harcourt Collection; Sotheby’s, London, 10 June 1993, lot 198.

Specialist note


The Princesses Augusta (1768-1840) and Elizabeth (1770-1840), daughters of King George III and Queen Charlotte, were on very friendly terms with both the Earl and Countess Harcourt, particularly Princess Elizabeth with Lady Harcourt, from the time of their visit at Nuneham House, the Harcourt seat, in September 1785. Both the wills of Lord and Lady Harcourt list numerous presents from the Royal family, a number of which are listed in Nathaniel Hawthorne's description of the contents of Nuneham Courtney in his letter of 1864, published in the Harcourt Papers in 1880, op. cit., pp. 218-238.

The Earl and Countess Harcourt, by Charles Algernon Tomkins, after Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1780. © National Portrait Gallery, London