HANAU, CIRCA 1860, RETAILED BY GARRARD & CO., LONDON rectangular

A very fine German gold enamel snuff box "Alexander crowning Roxana" Case: 20k gold, case maker's punch mark "J" and "T", numbered rim 709. Oval box, the cover, side and base panels with translucent cobalt blue enamel on an engine-turned reeding and coin pattern bordered by a band of frosted gold with opalescent white enamel studs and translucent green enamelled foliate decor. The hinged cover inset with an oval polychrome painted enamel plaque depicting the Crowning Roxana's by Alexander, framed by opalescent white enamel studs. Francois-Claude Theremin Theremin was the son-in-law of Jean-Guillaume-Georges Krüger. Together with the brothers André and Jean-Louis Jordan he founded an important manufactory for ornaments and jewellery in Berlin, where they employed craftspeople from Paris and Geneva. Around 1794 Theremin went into partnership with his brother Pierre, who had a workshop in St. Petersburg. They decorated their gold boxes with neoclassical Geneva style enamelling and these boxes were a great success. The brothers possibly marked their products with the initials "JT". Source: José de Los Llanos, Christiane Grégoire, "Boites en or et objects de vertu au Musée Cognacq-Jay", Paris 2011, p. 536. "Alexander crowning Roxana"" Roxana was the daughter of a Sogdian noble (in today¿s Uzbekistan). Legend has it that she was the only woman Alexander ever truly loved. He made Roxana his wife after seeing her dance at a banquet; the marriage secured peace between Europe and Asia. Source: Was Bilder erzählen by H. Krauss / E. Uthemann, Munich 1987, p. 169.