Snuff or Patch Box

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  • Maker: Unidentified
  • Sheffield or Birmingham, England (probably)
  • ca. 1760
  • Fused silverplate (Sheffield Plate)
  • 1972-396,A_B

Plated boxes with the portrait of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, were made to commemorate Britain's alliance with Prussia during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763). At least some of the boxes of this type appear to have been made in Birmingham. White salt-glazed stoneware plates with molded portraits of Frederick the Great, military trophies, and inscriptions bidding success to the Prussian cause have been excavated on several Williamsburg sites.

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