- Design
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Design
- Place of origin:
Paris (made)
- Date:
ca. 1780 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Unknown
- Materials and Techniques:
Pen and ink and wash on paper
- Credit Line:
Purchased with the assistance of Wartski Limited
- Museum number:
E.897:16-1988
- Gallery location:
Prints & Drawings Study Room, level E, case CUP, shelf 5, box A
Two designs for a pearl-set watch case by an anonymous designer about 1780. The front is lettered with repeated 'Ls' and the back (or an alternative front) is lettered 'Elle Toujours' which means 'Always She'. Between the watch case designs, stuck to the sheet, is a design for a jewelled locket or brooch. The designs are from an album of designs which date from about 1735-1820 and include snuffboxes, scent holders, watches and watch cases, spoons, fans and fan mounts, small swords, and chatelaines. The album is bound in red morocco and the boards are stamped in gilt with the arms, now partly erased, of a member of the Bourbon family, probably Louis-Henri, Prince of Condé (1692-1740). This design was possibly for an elite client of the Court of Louis XVI, King of France from 1774 until 1791 at Versailles, Paris.
There is a close relationship between the contents of the album and known work by three Parisian goldsmiths, Jean Ducrollay (1710-1787), Pierre- François Drais (active 1761-1788), and Charles Ouizille (1744-1830) whose names appear on the first page of the album. This suggests that all the designs emanate from their workshops. Drais worked for the Court at Versailles as jeweller to both King Louis XV and Louis XVI. Ouizille worked in this capacity for Louis XVI. Most of the material dates from the period 1755-90.
