Pug-shaped snuff box
Conta & Boehme, Pössneck (Thuringia)
Late 19th century
 
This porcelain snuff box depicts a seated pug, whose removable head forms the lid. The naturalistic modelling with its flattened muzzle, bulging eyes and fur folds is characteristic of the Conta & Boehme factory’s output.
 
Both practical and decorative, the object reflects the craze for pugs in the late 19th century, when they were particularly popular among the bourgeoisie and aristocracy. Introduced in the 18th century as a court dog, the pug remains associated with refinement and domestic intimacy. The pug has historical links to the Order of the Mopses, a secret society founded in Germany around 1738–1740 to circumvent the papal ban on Freemasonry. The pug was chosen for its qualities of fidelity and loyalty, as well as for its character, which was both exotic and discreet, allowing membership of the Order to be concealed beneath a veneer of worldly sophistication. This association is particularly evident in 18th-century decorative arts (porcelain, figurines, lodge artefacts), where the pug signified membership of this order, hence the significance of the blue bow.
 

 
H: 19 cm - L: 16 cm
Circa 1880-1900.
 
Price: 840€