Snuff Box
ca. 1700 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
A silver-gilt box for small toiletries, the top engraved with scenes from the Toilet of Venus with French inscriptions, personalized with a Baron's coronet and entwined initials and signed by Simon Gribelin, who preserved copies of the engraving in an album which he compiled in 1722 now in the British Museum. The maker of the box is not recorded, but Simon Gribelin was a Huguenot refugee engraver from Blois, France, who settled in London in 1681. The box was part of the collection of silver bequeathed to the V&A by Claude Rotch in 1961
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Silver-gilt |
| Brief description | A silver-gilt snuff box engraved with mythological and fancy subjects by Simon Gribelin |
| Physical description | Oval box, the hinged lid engraved in the centre with a cypher surmounted by a baron's coronet flanked by four scenes from classical mythology with appropriate inscriptions in French. Above is the reclining figure of Venus in her chariot drawn by dove with above Cupid shooting arrows from a bow with the inscription 'QUI PEUT LUY RESISTER'; to the left is the Judgement of Paris with the inscription 'A LA PLUS BELLE'; to the right the Three Graces attending Venus who is admiring herself in a mirror with the inscription 'SEULLES DIGNES DE LA SERVIR' and below Cupid led by a dog on a lead with the inscription 'LA FIDELITE ME CONDUIT' signed on either side 'SIM GRIB'. The gilded surface is very worn revealing the silver beneath. |
| Dimensions |
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| Content description | The Toilet of Venus |
| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Bequeathed by Claude D. Rotch |
| Object history | Bequeathed by Claude D Rotch Acquisition RF: 61 / 3157 Exhibitions: The Quiet Conquest, Museum of London, May - November, 1985, No. 379, p.256 William & Mary, Bank of England, June - October 1989 |
| Historical context | The theme of the engravings and inscriptions illustrates the Toilet of Venus and suggests that this much used box was intended to house some accessories associated with the female toilet, perhaps patches rather than comfits or snuff. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | A silver-gilt box for small toiletries, the top engraved with scenes from the Toilet of Venus with French inscriptions, personalized with a Baron's coronet and entwined initials and signed by Simon Gribelin, who preserved copies of the engraving in an album which he compiled in 1722 now in the British Museum. The maker of the box is not recorded, but Simon Gribelin was a Huguenot refugee engraver from Blois, France, who settled in London in 1681. The box was part of the collection of silver bequeathed to the V&A by Claude Rotch in 1961 |
| Bibliographic reference | Exhibited The Quiet Conquest: The Huguenots 1685-1985, Museum of London, 1985 no.379, p.256; William and Mary, The Bank of England, June-October 1989.
Charles Oman, English Engraved Silver, 1150-1900 (London 1978)p.75 illustrating a pull from the top of this box in an album entitled 'Livre D'Estampes de Sim.Gribelin fait Relië à Londre 1722' |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.307-1962 |
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| Record created | September 10, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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