The Private Collection of a Gentleman

A 19th century Swiss enamelled lobed oval snuff box, made for the Turkish Market, circa 1830s, the cover with central enamelled scene of the Bosporus with a paddle steamer under sail, against a guilloché enamelled pink sky, within border of blue enamel decorated with flowers and foliage, the sides similarly decorated with polychrome enamelled panels (restored), unmarked, length 85mm. £1,800-£2,400

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Private Collection of a Gentleman.

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The cover depicts a sidewheeler paddle steamer, under steam and with sails hoisted. The first paddle steamer purchased by the Ottoman Empire was the English built sailing ship ‘The Swift’, (called locally Sür’at’) built in 1805 and transformed to a paddle wheeler in 1822. When she arrived in Istanbul in 1828, she was presented to the Sultan Mahmud II. In 1838, the first two commercial paddle steamers/ferries commenced carrying people and goods in Ottoman waters.


From the beginning of the 17th century, numerous Swiss enamellists worked for the Turkish market, but it was from the beginning of the 19th century that snuff boxes and watch casings became particularly popular, with characteristic decorations of fruits and flowers, trophies or representations of the Bosphorus strait.