Lovely Capodimonte style heart shaped porcelain snuff or trinket box. By German manufacturer Rudolstadt, Ernst Bohne Sons (1901-1920). Richly decorated in bas relief hand painted in vivid colors cherubs or putti figures embellished with gilt accents. Encircled by gilt bronze or brass hinged mounts. Base is marked with spurious blue crowned N mark. In overall good condition with general wear commensurate with age. No chips or cracks. Measures 2 5/8" length x 2 1/8" width x 1 3/8" height.
The Ernst Bohne factory of Rudolstadt, Thuringia, was founded in 1848. In 1854 Ernst passed away and the factory became Ernst Bohne Söhne (Ernst Bohne Sons). Producers of high quality porcelain. The firm marked their wares with the crown N mark until 1920, a pseudo mark similar to the original utilized by the Royal Naples / Capodimonte factory in the mid 19th century. Though in the style, these German pieces were made of hard paste porcelain as opposed to Italian soft-paste Capodimonte wares