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A rare Franchini millefiori knife handle, circa 1845-47 image 1
A rare Franchini millefiori knife handle, circa 1845-47 image 2
Lot 44

A rare Franchini millefiori knife handle, circa 1845-47

1 December 2021, 10:30 GMT
London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £2,550 inc. premium

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A rare Franchini millefiori knife handle, circa 1845-47

With an assortment of composite canes including a distinctive murrine of a crescent-shaped 'man in the moon' within a border of stars, a portrait of 'Angelina' and a gondola, on a ground of scrambled lengths of colourful filigree, ribbon and aventurine, mounted with a later steel blade, 18.6cm long including fittings, the blade marked 'HUMBLOT-GUERRE/ A VICHY ET A NICE/ DE LANGRES''

Footnotes

Provenance
Paul Gresswell-Wilkins Collection

The 'man in the moon' murrine is an example of a cane produced by Giacomo Franchini, see the cane handle with a similar murrine sold by Bonhams on 29 September 2020, lot 92. A comparable knife handle dated 1847 is in the Victoria and Albert Museum (inv. no.357E-1872)

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