A rare pair of Queen Anne Britannia Standard Snuffer Scissors made in London circa 1706 by Jacob Margas
A rare pair of Queen Anne Britannia Standard Snuffer Scissors made in London circa 1706 by Jacob Margas
375397
The Snuffer Scissors are modelled in an unusual plain design with round finger rings and snuffing box with rounded top. The outside is is engraved with a lion passant on a chapeau beneath a Ducal Coronet, as used by the Dukedom of Nofolk. The inside of the Snuffing Box is engraved with a second Crest of a demi lion rampant holding a cross crosslet, as used by the Capel family, of which one branch had been the Earls of Essex since 1661. The box is also engraved with its original scratch weight and bears the distinctive maker's mark of Jacob Margas. The Scissors are of a very good weight and in excellent condition.
Jacob Margas was of Huguenot descent, his family being expelled from France for their religious beliefs after the Edict of Nante. Many skilled French silversmiths settled in London and produced some of the finest pieces of the period. Jacob Margas was apprenticed to Thomas Jenkins, 12th January, 1699, and was free on 19th August, 1706, when his first mark was registered. These Snuffer Scissors represent an early example of his work and were made from his workshops in St.Martin's Lane. He was a silversmith of great quality and fine reputation as he was appointed as one of the Subordinate Goldsmith's to the King, 1723-30. The work of Margas does not survive in great quantity, however his recognised masterpieces are the Ewer of 1706 at Pembroke College, Cambridge, which appears to be one of his earliest surviving pieces, a Cup and Cover of 1718, formerly in the Collection of the Emperors of Russia and the Salver of 1725 in the Ashmolean Collection. Oxford.
Length: 3.5 inches, 8.75 cm.
Width, across the finger rings: 2 inches, 5 cm.
Height: 1.15 inches, 2.88 cm.
Weight: 3.1 oz.
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