An early-18th century gold-mounted mother-of-pearl snuff box,

An early-18th century gold-mounted mother-of-pearl snuff box,
unmarked circa 1709,
oval form, the hinged cover set with a mother-of-pearl panel carved with an armorial, plain sides and base, length 7.8cm.

Provenance: A Private Collection.
Christie's New York, 21 October 1993, lot 181.
Anonymous sale in aid of the Hospital of St. John and St. Elizabeth, Christie's, London, March 28, 1984, lot 93.
The armorial is that of the Dukedom of Norfolk impaling Sherburne.

Christie's wrote on the arms: 'The arms are those of Howard impaling those of Sherburne, as born by Thomas, 8th Duke of Norfolk, born in 1683. He married May 26, 1709, Mary Maria Winifred Francisca, daughter and sole heir of Sir Nicholas Sherburne, Bt., of Stonyhurst, Lancashire. It had been rumoured a few months before that he was about to marry the daughter of the Marquess of Powys but it appears that as early as 1706 he had had "a design upon Sir Nich. Sherburne's, of the North, daughter and heir who has upwards of 3,000 per annum and red lettered" [Complete Peerage]. The marriage however was not a success; his wife, a staunch Roman Catholic and Jacobite, is said to have separated from him in indignation at his having "truckled to the Usurper" on the accession of George I in 1714. Despite these Hanoverian leanings, the Duke was arrested in 1722 on suspicion of being concerned in a Jacobite plot and was committed to the Tower. His wife, who was refused permission to see him, managed to secure his bail. Their marriage nevertheless never recovered. The Duke died in 1749 after a long and painful illness; Sir Thomas Robinson wrote "It is currently reported that he was poisoned ... his case entirely puzzled the doctors ... he suffered as much pain as 'twas possible for any mortal to undergo for several weeks before his death". A few months later his widow married Peregrine Widdrington. She died in 1754. By family tradition, this box was given by Sir Nicholas Sherburne to his daughter on her marriage'.