Playing "Ranz les Vaches" and "Rule Britannia", with large pinned barillet housing the spring, notation lines, four-winged governor and stack of 42 teeth (complete, one expertly replaced), in fine engine-turned gold case with engraved dedication "Souvenir d'Amitié et de Reconnaissance" in shield-shaped cartouche relived by chased and engraved borders of enameled cobalt flowers and foliage, the lip and base with corresponding motifs, the corners decorated with stylized thistles, with winding arbour and stop/start slide engraved "S/M" on the left side and tune-change slide engraved "A/S" on the back, the polished interior stamped "HN" for Henri Neisser, wd. 3 1/8 x 2 in. (8 x 5 cm), cylinder approx. 1 1/8 in. (27,6 x diameter 17 mm), not opened for inspection, excellent restored playing condition, tunes play for around 40 seconds. With key. - Literature: Luuk Goldhoorn & Niko Wiegman, "A Rare and Remarkable Musical Snuff Box" in: "The Music Box" (MBSGB), vol. 27, no. 4 (Winter 2015), pp. 131-133; Arthur Ord-Hume (1995), "The Musical Box, a Guide for Collectors", p. 66, for a similar (but smaller) movement signed "Fs. Nicole et Meylan". - As Goldhoorn notes, the term barillet is usually reserved for stacked-comb movements in which the length of the cylinder is less than its diameter. Although possessing characteristics of a barillet arrangement, the length of the cylinder qualifies this piece rather as an early transitional mechanism. The comb too presents remarkable technical features: each of the 42 teeth is different in shape and tone but equal in length and the position of its tip. - The movement is not wound from the underside, as is customary on a musical snuff box, but from the side and the arbor is artfully concealed behind a gold cover operated by a minute sprung pin. While the letters "S/M" on the stop/start slide stand for "Silence" and "Musique", Goldhoorn argues that the letters "A/S" on the tune-change slide signify "Anglais" and "Suisse" - perhaps a reference to the choice between traditional Swiss and English melodies. As Goldhoorn notes: "The combination of a Swiss and an English tune on a snuff box, which on its lid has the text ‘Souvenir or Friendship and Recognition’ (the word reconnaissance an old spelling of modern reconnaissance) invites speculation". - An exhibition-quality presentation piece.