A RARE PAIR OF FAMILLE ROSE SHOE-SHAPED SNUFF BOXES Qianlong period, circa 1780 The snuff boxes in the form of ladies high-heeled shoes with slender upturned toes, painted with loose flower sprays in famille rose and gilt, a molded strap tied from the counter to the tongue is painted in gilt with a cell diaper pattern below a sharp tooth-edged band, the heels of cylindrical form, mounted with a later European hinged white-metal cover. 4in (10cm) wide (2). Footnotes: 乾隆時期 約1780年 粉彩描金鞋形鼻烟盒一對 Published: Cohen & Cohen, Hit & Myth, Antwerp, 2014-B, p. 99, no. 57 出版： 倫敦Cohen & Cohen古董行，《Hit & Myth》，安特衛普，2014年-B，頁99，圖版編號57 The taking of 'snuff' (ground imported tobacco, which stimulated the senses in the manner of nicotine in cigarettes) was a widely accepted social practice in 18th century European polite society. The correct manner of offering, accepting and inhaling a 'pinch of snuff' was standardized at least as early as 1734. By 1781 Jean Sebastian Mercier wrote that 'a well-dressed man should have a different snuffbox for every day of the year'. A cargo list for three Portuguese ships arriving in Lisbon in 1756, recorded 842 enameled copper (i.e., 'Canton enamel' rather than rarer and more fragile porcelain) tobacco boxes and snuff boxes from China. See also another example with pointed toe, square heel and buckle at the tongue offered as lot 91 in this sale. References: Santos & Allen, 2005, p. 130, no. 46, another shoe snuff box; Cohen & Cohen, 1999, no. 21, another example; Sargent, 1991, p. 160, another.