This elaborate box of dominoes once belonged to Queen Victoria.
It's set to be one of the stars of Christie's Rare Watches sale in Geneva on May 15, with an estimate of $302,588-504,314.
The unique piece was made by renowned Swiss jeweller Moulinie, Bautte & Cie in 1808.
It’s thought to have been designed for the Chinese market.
Queen Victoria was given the dominoes as a gift
However, it ended up in a museum of curiosities (the Weeks’ Museum) in London.
In 1834, when the museum closed, most of its exhibits were sold off.
This box was acquired by a friend of the queen, who gave it to her as a gift. Later Victoria gave it to her youngest son, Prince Leopold.
Victoria was a huge fan of dominoes.
She writes in one of her diary entries from 1842: “Albert read to me, and we played at dominos, such a good game…”
Sotheby’s explains: “This exceptional gold and enamel musical box and its set of gold dominoes is almost certainly unique — no other examples are known publicly in either private collections or museums worldwide…
“It is quite remarkable that this musical box and dominoes have documented early provenance back to 1834, less than 30 years after they were made.
“At such an early date, documented provenance for an object such as this is almost unheard of.”
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