The lid is centred with the diamond-set initials VE below a crown for Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Italy (1820–1878). The base is engraved with the arms of Savoy hung with the chain of the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation, identifying him as a member of an ancient ruling family. This snuffbox was given by Vittorio Emanuele II to Gasparo Cassinis, a notary and a witness to the marriage of the kings second son, Amedeo, Duke of Aosta (1845–1890), and Maria Vittoria dal Pozzo, Principessa della Cisterna e di Belriguardo (1847–1876), in Turin on 30 May 1867.

Vittorio Emanuele II, eldest son of Carlo Alberto, King of Sardinia (1798–1849), succeeded to the throne following the abdication of his father in 1849. After the Risorgimento he was proclaimed, on 17 March 1861, Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Italy. The unification of Italy under the House of Savoy caused a change in the geopolitical landscape of Europe and had ramifications when the marriages of the kings sons were being planned: the displaced royal houses of Italy and their closely related families in Spain, France and Austria showed no inclination to make marriage alliances with the recently elevated royal family. As a consequence marriages were arranged with the Italian nobility, for Amedeo, or their immediate family, for his older brother Umberto, who married their first cousin Margarita, Princess of Savoy-Genoa (1851–1926).

This presentation box was supplied by Musy, long-term suppliers to the House of Savoy. In 1765 Luigi and Claudio Musy were appointed clockmakers and suppliers to Luigi Vittorio, 4th Prince of Savoy-Carignano (1721–1778), great great-grandfather of Vittorio Emanuele II.

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