German/Italian gold and micro mosaic snuff box – £3800 at Matthew Barton.
Matthew Barton (25% buyer’s premium) attracted international interest in this early-19th century German gold snuff box at his November 20 London sale.
Part of the universal attraction of the 3in (8cm) wide box was the (possibly later) Italian micro-mosaic oval of a spaniel inset to the lid, but the box had inherent quality with its sides engraved with stiff leaf borders and patera to the corners and the underside to the lid engraved with a rose gold oval engraved with a basket of flowers.