Chateau de Versailles Acquires Rare 1785 Sèvres Snuff Box Made for Madame Adélaïde at Bonhams Auction

A Sèvres royal gold-mounted oval snuff box created around 1785 for Madame Adélaïde was purchased by the Société des Amis de Versailles at Bonhams New Bond Street in London on December 2. The acquisition price of £190,900 established a new world auction record for Sèvres boxes. Crafted by the King's jeweller Charles Ouizille, the piece features hallmarks from Clavel and Kalendrin. Originally delivered to Madame Adélaïde in January 1786, the snuff box later entered the Rothschild collection where it remained for five generations. Only four Sèvres snuffboxes depicting royal pets are known to exist, with Madame de Pompadour's example at Waddesdon Manor being the sole other publicly held version. Nette Megens, Director of Decorative Arts UK & Europe at Bonhams, noted that royal snuffboxes of this caliber are exceptionally rare since many were historically dismantled to reclaim their precious materials.