Here is a rare find: a pair of Seventeenth Century candlesticks in lustrous bell metal the color of rose gold. Engraved with designs of stylized flowers and festoons, they are about six inches tall and 4-1/2 inches in diameter. Both sticks have been pierced (not by me!) for electrical wiring.

In order to access the tobacco within, the snuff-taker must know the right moves unlock and disengage the cover. The box is carved in the shape of a long, elegant slipper, originally red and black, with a nice low heel and a relief carving of a stylized plant with flowers and “fruit” of two bizarre demons’ heads. In superb condition, it is of Continental manufacture, late Eighteenth or early Nineteenth and measures 5-1/4 inches long, 1-1/2 inches high and 1-5/8 inches wide.

In the form of a Turkish slipper with a Louis XV heel, this plump little wooden snuff box has a hidden trick opening device that makes it necessary to perform two actions before the contents are available. Of a fine fruitwood, with the “lock” of mahogany and a locking plate of engraved copper, it is a Continental creation of the early Nineteenth Century, in excellent condition and around 3-3/4 inches long by 1-3/4 inches high by 1-1/2 inches wide.

Profusely carved with stylized flowers and hearts, this superb wooden snuff box was created in Wales in the Eighteenth Century. In splendid condition, it measure abou four inches long, 1-1/2 inches high and 1-1/4 inches wide.

Dating from around 1875, this fine porcelain brush vase retains its Communist Government seal on the bottom, releasing for sale as antique. Gold-highlighted enamels depict a young man scaling a wall and pushing away willow branches to interrupt two ladies playing checkers in a garden, probably a scene from a popular play. The piece is approximately 4-3/4 inches tall and three inches in diameter, and is in pristine condition, with only normal wear to the gilding.

Of superb quality and in excellent condition is this French desk ornament that opens to reveal an ink pot, sander, two seal pots and four quill stands, with their removable rack. Including the rouge royale marble base, the finely detailed piece of circa 1800 is about six inches tall and of 4-3/4-inch diameter. An elegant addition to a classical setting.

This superb Italian Renaissance ormolu monstrance frame is in the form of a starburst with a winged angel head at the base on either side. Dating from the third quarter of the Sixteenth Century, it measures approximately 6-1/4 inches high by seven inches wide, exclusive of its modern marble base.

Two visions of Venus are depicted in this pair of late Eighteenth Century statuettes, finely executed renditions of Italian Renaissance master bronzes. They are mounted on 5-1/2-inch diameter highly polished Blyberg porphyry columns, which raise them to about 18 inches in height. Aside from a few chips on the edges of the bases, they are in excellent condition.

On a very simple covered cylinder of highly polished bone are engraved in minute detail a couple of face cards and replicas of the contents: six bone dice. Japanese, late Nineteenth Century or early Twentieth, the little set is in mint condition and measures about 1-5/8 inches high and 1-1/4 inches in diameter.

This highly detailed painting of the Holy Family being visited by the Magi and others is rendered in oil on copper. Delicately applied gold details enliven the colorful costumes. Approximately 6-1/2 inches by 5-3/8 inches, Flanders, Seventeenth Century. Please note that the painting has recently been re-framed more appropriately.

In unusually fine state of preservation, this handsome French country snuff box is formed of blond horn studded and bound with brass. Engraved with stylized designs of birds and flowers and highlighted with deep yellow stain and inlaid red enamel, this fine folk art piece dates from the mid-Nineteenth Century and measures approximately 4-1/8 inches by 2-3/4 inches and 7/8 of an inch deep. (For a charmingly time-worn example, see Trocadero item 418544.)

A particularly fine example of stippled painting is displayed under glass on the top of this simple boxwood snuff box: an Alpine beauty is portrayed in her native costume, a striped blue apron over her red dress, a brown cape, her hair bound up in a black bandeau with a toss of red ribbons on top...