A George III Scottish parcel-gilt silver table snuff box

A George III Scottish parcel-gilt silver table snuff box,

by Alexander Gardner and Co, Edinburgh 1802,

oval navette form, the flush-hinged cover with an armorial, and with a presentation inscription, 'Presented by the Western Abernethy Company of Volunteers to James Grant Esq. of Birchfield their Captain', length 12cm, approx. weight 6oz.

Provenance: The Lion Collection, no. 208

Christie's South Kensington, Silver, 28-29 November 2006, lot 319.

Illustrated in Culme, J. British Silver Boxes 1640-1840, The Lion Collection, Antique Collector's Club, 2015, page 189.

The arms are those of Grant.

During the Napoleonic Wars, volunteer units were raised throughout the United Kingdom. In 1793 Sir James Grant raised a regiment of Fencibles almost exclusively from his own tenantry. in 1798 he raised the Strathspey Battalion of Volunteers. In Abernethy there were two Companies, the Eastern and the Western. The Western Company had a strength of 80 and their Captain was James Grant Esq. of Birchfield