Snuff-Box in the Shape of a Sealed Parcel with Dedicatory Inscription to Empress Elizabeth Petrovna

Novelty snuffboxes of this type imitated a piece of postal correspondence enclosed in a white envelope. The owner’s name and address would be written on the lid, while a “wax seal” of a family crest or cameo design would be placed on the base. In the mid-18th century, Russia adopted the idea of producing such items from abroad, where porcelain and enamelled articles of this sort were already popular. The Neva Porcelain Manufactory (forerunner of the Imperial Porcelain Factory) made postal package snuffboxes in large, medium and small sizes. The writing on this example is in a cursive hand. It is addressed to the exalted monarch who was the founder of Russia’s first porcelain factory – Empress Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter the Great, who reigned from 1741 to 1762.