Design
ca.1765 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Design for a man's fob chain, a small ornament or medallion suspended from a watch sometimes including a short chain as in this design. The fob chain in this design carries a watch and there are sketches of alternative links. This design was by an anonymous designer and was made about 1765 possibly for an elite client from the Court of Louis XV, King of France, from 1715 to 1774, at Versailles, Paris.
It is from an album of designs which date from about 1735-1820 and includes those for snuffboxes, scent holders, watches and watch cases, spoons, fans and fan mounts, small swords, and chatelaines (ornamental chains, pins, or clasps usually worn at a woman's waist, to which trinkets, keys, purses, or other articles are attached).
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.
It is from an album of designs which date from about 1735-1820 and includes those for snuffboxes, scent holders, watches and watch cases, spoons, fans and fan mounts, small swords, and chatelaines (ornamental chains, pins, or clasps usually worn at a woman's waist, to which trinkets, keys, purses, or other articles are attached).
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.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Pen and ink on paper |
| Brief description | Design from album of designs by Ouizille, French, eighteenth century. NOT TO BE ISSUED WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE HEAD OF DESIGNS |
| Physical description | Design for a man's fob chain, carrying a watch, with sketches of alternative links. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Purchased with the assistance of Wartski Limited |
| Production | This design is by the same hand as the chatelaine designs E.897:67-1988, E.897:220-1988 and E.897:247-1988 in the same album. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Design for a man's fob chain, a small ornament or medallion suspended from a watch sometimes including a short chain as in this design. The fob chain in this design carries a watch and there are sketches of alternative links. This design was by an anonymous designer and was made about 1765 possibly for an elite client from the Court of Louis XV, King of France, from 1715 to 1774, at Versailles, Paris. It is from an album of designs which date from about 1735-1820 and includes those for snuffboxes, scent holders, watches and watch cases, spoons, fans and fan mounts, small swords, and chatelaines (ornamental chains, pins, or clasps usually worn at a woman's waist, to which trinkets, keys, purses, or other articles are attached). 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. |
| Bibliographic reference | Heike Zech, 'Designs for Gold Boxes in the Album of the Workshop of Jean Ducrollay and his Successors', in Going for Gold: craftsmanship and collecting of gold boxes, ed. Tessa Murdoch and Heike Zech (Sussex academic press, 2014). |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.897:336-1988 |
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| Record created | June 5, 2006 |
| Record URL |
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