V&A Conservator Details Treatment of 18th-Century Snuff Box from Gilbert Collection

A conservator at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London has documented the conservation of a gold-mounted bonbonnière from the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection. The box, made in Paris between 1764 and 1765, bears an inscription linking it to John Zephaniah Holwell, a former governor of Bengal for the East India Company. Despite its modest appearance, the box is crafted from poudre d'écaille—a composite of pigments and glue—and decorated with gold and silver elements. Traces of tobacco residue suggest it was used as a snuff box. The conservation treatment addressed tarnished metal surfaces, loose gold bands, and residues from a 1998 repair. The box is now displayed in the newly refurbished Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Galleries at the V&A South Kensington, which reopened after a major refurbishment. The Gilbert Collection, on long-term loan to the V&A, includes over 200 snuff boxes.