

Figure 14. — Tray and saltcellar in shape of chair that were among items presented to 

 Gustavus Vasa Fox on his visit to Russia in 1866. The tray measures 24 x 15 x 1)2 inches, 

 and the saltcellar is 3^^ inches high, 4?io inches long, and 2^4 inches wide. They were made 

 by Sazkoff, St. Petersburg, 1863. Bequest of Mrs. V. L. W. Fox. In Division of Political 

 History. (Ace. 50021, cats. 11267, 11263; Smithsonian photos 45602-A, 456oa-H.) 



a deputation of peasants awaited them. Leader of the 

 peasant group was the mayor of the neighboring 

 village, an emancipated serf, who presented Fox with 

 bread and salt — traditional symbols of Russian hos- 

 pitality — on a silver salver and said: 



We wish to tell the envoy that we are come to congratulate 

 him on his arrival, and to present him with bread and salt 

 and also to say that we love him, and that we shall 

 remember the love of his people for our country and our 

 sovereign.-" 



Two days later, on August 28, Fox met Prince 

 Gortchakoff by appointment at the foreign office. 

 After various coinplimentary allusions to the manner 

 in which Mr. Fox had performed the delicate duties 

 entrusted to him by his government, the Prince, in the 

 name of the Emperor, presented a gold snuffbox set 

 with diamonds.^' The box, exquisitely chased, had 

 the Emperor's miniature on the top surrounded by 26 

 diamonds. Six larger diamonds were set three on 

 each side at equal distances from the inner circle. 

 The Emperor was pictured in full military uniform 

 with various orders on his breast. ^^ The snuffbox 



2»JoHN D. Champlin, Jr., ed.. Narrative of the Mission to 

 Russia in 1866 of the Hon. Gustavus Vasa Fox from the Journal and 

 Notes of J. F. Loubat (New York, 1873), p. 264. 



" Snuffboxes were given by sovereigns to those who were not 

 allowed to receive decorations. Such boxes were of three 

 grades: plain gold boxes, boxes set with diamonds, and boxes 

 having both diamonds and the sovereign's miniature. The 

 lattci- were given only to persons of the highest distinction. 



^•' Champmn, p. 359. 



minus its decorations is part of the Gustavus Vasa Fo.x 

 collection in the Museum. The precious stones 

 on the lid and the miniature in the center were 

 bequeathed by Mrs. Fox to various members of the 

 family when the box (cat. 11268) was willed to the 

 Museum. 



* * * 



A large and elaborate silver vase was presented by 

 the members of the U.S. Life-Saving Service to Mrs. 

 Samuel S. Cox in honor of the outstanding work of her 

 husband, who as a congressman supported various bills 

 for the improvement of the Service. Mr. Cox served 

 as Congressman for 20 years, first from Ohio and later 

 from New York State. He died in New York City in 

 1889. Two years later General Superintendent S. L 

 Kimball, in behalf of a committee representing the 

 Service, presented the vase to Mrs. Cox. The cere- 

 mony took place at Mrs. Cox's home in Washington 

 on December 12, 1891, in the presence of a gathering 

 of relatives and friends. 



The vase-' is 2 feet tall and 2 feet 1 inch in diameter; 

 it weighs almost 8 pounds. Its design was selected by 

 a subcommittee appointed by the Life-Saving Service, 

 and the job was awarded to the Gorham Silver 

 Company. The chasing is entirely the work of one 

 man. The base of the vase has a design of clusters of 

 acorns and oak leaves, and above these are dolphins 

 sporting in billowing waves. The body of the vase 



23 Gift of Elizabeth Hardenburg (ace. 53695, cat. 12782), 

 Division of Political History, USNM. 



98 



BULLETIN 24 1 : CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



