Faberge snuffbox has tsar quality

A Christie's employee displays a Faberge bejewelled Imperial presentation snuffbox with a miniature portrait of Tsar Nicholas II.

The exceptionally rare item is to be auctioned on Monday with an estimated price of 400,000 to 600,000.

Faberge, the court jeweller, produced only 19 Imperial snuffboxes with a miniature portrait of the Tsar, making them even rarer than the 50 known Imperial Easter eggs.

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The box was presented to the Turkish diplomat Turkhan Pasha in December 1913 probably to commemorate the end of his five-year ambassadorship in St Petersburg.

In Russia, the practice of awarding jewelled snuff-boxes came into its own during the reigns of the Empresses Elizabeth and Catherine the Great, when snuff-taking developed into an elaborate social ritual – l'art de priser – and gave rise to the new art form of luxurious snuffboxes.