Benjamin Franklin Portrait Burlwood Snuff Box
French, circa 1840 — 3½ x 2¼ inches
 
A finely grained burlwood snuff box of gently rounded rectangular form, the lid inset with a glass-covered medallion portrait of Benjamin Franklin. The warm, richly figured surface displays the characteristic swirling patterns prized in mid-nineteenth-century French decorative arts, while the crisp profile likeness reflects the enduring transatlantic admiration for Franklin as a symbol of Enlightenment intellect and republican virtue.
 
Condition: Excellent.