Alexander Strachan
( 1774 - 1850 )
A George III 18 Carat Gold Snuff Box
Alexander Strachan
( 1774 - 1850 )
A George III 18 Carat Gold Snuff Box
London, 1826
Goldsmith’s maker’s mark of James Strachan
Length: 8.5 cm, 3.35 in
Weight: 212 g, 8 oz 16 dwt
The gold box of shaped rectangular form, engine turned to the base and sides. The thumb piece cast and formed as shell, flowers and a mask of Neptune. The cover with cast and applied decoration formed as Chinese garden with pedestals floral décor with scrolls and shells together with two phoenixes. The central plaque of storks by the waterside under an overhanging tree.
A.J. Strachan registered his first mark as a small worker at Goldsmiths ' Hall on 21 September 1799 when he was living at 30 Long Acre in London . He had moved to 7 Mercer Street , Long Acre , by 1803 and moved again to 124 Long Acre in 1828. His Sun insurance policy of 1824 describes him as “ Jeweller and Engine Turner ” . He appears to have been the principal supplier of gold boxes to the royal goldsmiths , Rundell , Bridge and Rundell , but he also supplied the retailers Thomas Holland and Coward and Smith . In 1826 he acquired a house , Vine Cottage , Cromwell Lane , Old Brompton . He retired to Brighton in 1839 and nine years later he applied to the Goldsmiths ' Company for a grant since , with “ the falling away of business he was obliged to retire with very little property ” . According to contemporary documents his surname was pronounced “ Strawn ' .
MARK
AJS
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