Rare 17th C. Treen Shoe Snuff Rasp Box Crowned Bird Râpe Tabatière Wood

Description

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Rare 17th C. Treen Shoe Snuff Rasp Box Crowned Bird Râpe Tabatière Wood
This is an extremely rare piece of treen , possibly French or Flemish. Originally the opening on the bottom would have had a rasp to grate tobacco. The top would have a plug in the hole which wen removed would allow the snuff to come out. The shoe, while perhaps humorous to us, is actually an accurate representation of a 17th century shoe, including the open ankle and elongated square ended toe. If you Google “17th century open ankle shoe” you will find several examples.
On each side of the shoe is a crowned monarch, just forward are what look like a draped windows, this is actually an open area which would show the sock inside. Above the open ankle is a flap on each side that are tied together in the center.  Where the tie would be there are two holes, which would allow a piece of string to go through. My guess is that this would allow one to tie down the pug to keep it from getting lost. Three is also a small hole in the back of the shoe. This hole, the plug hole and the rasp hole are all connected on the inside. I am not sure what purpose the small hole serves, unless it is either to tap out smaller amounts of snuff or it is meant to allow one to sniff snuff directly from the shoe.
I have owned this piece for decades, when preparing the piece to photograph a portion of the toe fell off. Evidently it was glued some time ago, you can see white remnants of the glue. Since this, in my opinion, is a museum quality item I will ship both pieces and suggest the new owner have it professionally restored. Even with the glue present the two pieces fit together quite well.
A Google search in English or French will not find a similar snuff box. However there was at least one other known example. In a book “ Tabatières” by Solange de Plas  on page 15 is pictured a very similar shoe snuff box. The age of the shoe is not given, but the title of the chapter is titled “Les Tabatières du Grand Siècle” The tobacco boxes of the Great Century. The Grand Siècle is understood to mean the 17th century or the reign of Louis XIV. The shoe was in the Cluny collection. Unfortunately, the Cluny Museum in Paris is now dedicated to the Middle ages, and I could not find the current location of the shoe on either of the French government web sites. the crowned dragon decoration looks somewhat similar to the crowned salamander symbol of Francois I, but I could not find the significance.
It measures a
bout 11 cm long by about 5 cm high or about 4.2 inches.
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