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| Snuffbox French 1838-1840 Made by Alexandre Raoul Morel The Victoria & Albert Museum |
Presented in 1849 by Louis d'Orléans (as evidenced by the monogram and coronet on the lid) to the physician Sir Charles Locock. this gold, rectangular presentation snuffbox is engraved with foliate volutes and strapwork.
Louis d'Orléans, Duc de Nemours, is best known as the eldest surviving son of Louis-Philippe, the King of the French who went into exile in England after abdicating the French Crown in 1848.
Dr. Locock was presented with this box, it is believed, after heroically treating the Duke’s family for serious complications from lead poisoning which was the result of the lead pipes in their new home, Claremont House in Surrey. Locock is also notable as being the personal Physician Accoucher (obstetrician) to Queen Victoria (not, as I’d have you believe, Dr. Robert Halifax). It’s not a surprise that Sir Arthur and Rosalinde Gilbert happened to own this snuffbox at one point. They owned, it seems, most every important snuffbox at one time or another. It now lives in the V&A with its many snuffbox brothers and sisters.
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