A fine mid-eighteenth-century varicolour gold and silver snuff box

A fine mid-eighteenth-century varicolour gold and silver snuff box. Of ingot form, with all sides decorated with chased flowers and vines en deux couleurs on a starburst-engraved silver ground, the piano-hinged lid opens to reveal a gilt interior, with no apparent hallmarks, tested at 89.44% silver on an XRF machine; height 3.8cm, width 8.7cm, depth 5.2cm, weight 5.96ozt. See Sotheby's A varicolour gold and silver snuff box, by Guillaume-Bernard Chaguet , and An eighteenth-century mixed metal snuff box by Jean Moynat for some similar example. handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyser to test metals. The lid fits snugly and closes completely. The hinge is missing a joint cover in the centre; this does not appear to have affected the hinge movement, which is smooth. The missing section is also visible when the box is open. There is some very minimal wear to the edges of some of the gilt detailing, and some minor scratches to the body; these are largely obscured by the engraved pattern. There are some small dents to the edges; the most noticeable is to the base of the front left-hand side, where a section appears to have been lost (images added for assessment). There is tarnishing, localised around the corners and edges of the flowers and vine work. The interior's gilding has surface scratching.