James Monroe: Profoundly Rare Papier-mâché Portrait Snuffbox....

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James Monroe: Profoundly Rare Papier-mâché Portrait Snuffbox. The lid bears a decal portrait of Monroe with his name above and "President of the United States" below. These boxes, found depicting presidents and statesmen through the 1850s, are highly prized and systematically collected. This Monroe example is one of the earliest depicting a sitting president, and especially desirable because there are so few collectable display items which are contemporary of his presidency. We know of only one other example of this important box. Overall condition is excellent for the type. There is none of the surface crazing which afflicts so many of these boxes, which doubtless occurred because some sort of lacquer was applied over the decal in manufacture. There is an area of professional restoration on the lid, a pie- shaped wedge extending from the rim at the "O" in Monroe down to his left temple, and then out to the rim at 3:00, noticeable only because the background color is somewhat darker in this area. This is the U.I. "Chick" Harris Collection example, sold by Slater's Americana in January, 2000 for $8364. Diameter 3.375".