[BOOK-SHAPED BOX - QUEEN ANNE]. - [Gold and tortoise shell book-shaped box made for Queen Anne of Great Britain].[Portugal?], [ca. 1702?]. Ca. 15.5 x 12 x 5.5 cm. Early 18th-century, possibly Portuguese, tortoise shell box, with elaborate gold filigree rococo decorations: birds and foliage within a floral frame on the front and back "boards" with gold filigree decorated fastenings around the "fore edge", complete with: 2 catch plates, 2 anchor plates and 2 clasps. The "spine" is divided into 4 compartments, separated by gold filigree decorative horizontal strips, with a gold engraved plaque in the 2nd compartment reading in a banner "BY ME KINGS REIGNE" and below "ANNE [a crown] REGINA" and a filigree basket of flowers in the 1st, 3rd and 4th compartments. The edges are embossed and covered in fine gold foil. The inside of the box is covered in red velvet and the front "board" is, once the box is open, connected to the outer corners of the "fore edge" by fine gold chains.

A unique, exquisitely decorative, tortoise shell and gold book box, made for and given to Queen Anne of Great Britain. The book-shaped box was made especially for Queen Anne (1665-1714) early in her reign (ca. 1702), possibly in Portugal. She succeeded her brother-in-law King William III of Orange as sovereign of England Scotland and Ireland in 1702 and from 1707 until her death, she was known as Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. A tipped in note (not present here) stated that Henrietta M.S. Stuart received this box as a gift from her husband William Stuart for their 31st wedding anniversary on 9 August 1852. Queen Anne was the last Stuart monarch and the present box apparently remained in the Stuart family until well into the 19th century.It later became part of the impressive book historical collection of Cornelius John Hauck (1893-1967), an American bibliophile. His collection was sold by Christie's in New York in 2008.From the collection of Cornelius J. Hauck. The inside of the box shows some signs of use: some parts of the velvet are slightly crushed and the lower chain has been detached from the "fore-edge" of the box, though still connected to the inside corner of the "front board". The tortoise shell box is exquisitely decorated and overall in very good condition.

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