Tobaco grater

The stretched tongue-shaped case opens with a wooden peg. The front cover is decorated with Hercules and the lion, on top of a mask and a rosette. The scene is surmounted by a ribbon inscription: VIRTUS MONSTRIS SVPERIOR. The back shows a running lion with a cock behind it, in a carved frame. The ribbon inscription of the back says: SAPIENTER FORTIS LOQVACEM FVGIT. The finial is a concave shell.

Pieces similar to the one described above were exhibited in the Musée de Cluny in Paris, in 1900. They belonged to the Alain collection (see: Exposition universelle internationale de 1900 a Paris: Musée retrospectif de la classe 91. Manufactures de tabacs et d’allumettes chimiques. Paris, 1900, 76-77. p.).