A Birmingham enamel rectangular snuff box

A Birmingham enamel rectangular snuff box,

c.1760-65, painted to the interior lid with a portrait of the actress, Mrs Mary Brooks (nèe L'Hereux), the exterior with four figures seated around a table and playing cards, within a raised gilt scroll cartouche on a dark blue ground, the sides with panels of landscapes on a similar ground, gilt metal mounts, 8.2cm across.

The source for the portrait of Mrs Brooks is a mezzotint by Richard Houston, after Thomas Worlidge. Mary L'Hereux married the Irish engraver, John Brooks, in 1756, but he was made bankrupt three years later. Mrs Brooks turned to acting in order to support herself and her three children. Cf. Transactions of the English Ceramic Circle, Vol 8, Pt. 2, 'The London Enamellers' for more details.