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Snuffbox

1743-1744 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Japanese lacquer was very highly valued in Europe in the eighteenth century. This box is made up of panels which were probably cut out of boxes imported into France and sold by marchand-merciers. Three types of lacquer are used in this box: raden, using mother-of-pearl, hiramakie, in which gold or silver dust is sprinkled onto a lacquer surface and covered with a clear lacquer and takamakie, lacquer decoration raised from the surface and then sprinkled with metal dust. Charles Truman has pointed out that the act of using panels from the imported boxes might seem like vandalism in our century; however, at the time it was both commonplace and demonstrated the esteem in which the art of the East were held.

The panels are set in a gold box made by Thomas-Pierre Breton (died 1767), the son of a Paris master goldsmith.

Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.
On long-term loan to Los Angeles County Museum from 2010.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Moulded gold, Japanese <i>takamakie</i>, <i>hiramakie</i>and <i>raden</i> lacquer; gold and mother-of-pearl
Brief description
Snuffbox with panels of Japanese lacquer, box: gold, mother-of-pearl, Thomas-Pierre Breton, Paris, 1743-44
Physical description
A rectangular, gold-mounted lacquer snuffbox comprising six panels of Japanese hiramakie, takamakie and raden lacquer in waved gold mounts
Dimensions
  • Length: 8.7cm
  • Width: 6.8cm
  • Height: 3.6cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • mark of Thomas Pierre Breton (Nocq 1926-31,1,197) (on right side of bezel)
  • French charge mark of sous-fermier Louis Robin (Nocq-1926-31,iv,233-234) (on right side of bezel)
  • Paris warden mark, 1743-1744 (on right side of bezel)
  • discharge mark of Louis Robin, 1738-1744 (Nocq 1926-31, iv, 233-234) (on left rim of lid)
Credit line
The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Object history
Provenance: A la Vieille Russie, New York.
Subjects depicted
Summary
Japanese lacquer was very highly valued in Europe in the eighteenth century. This box is made up of panels which were probably cut out of boxes imported into France and sold by marchand-merciers. Three types of lacquer are used in this box: raden, using mother-of-pearl, hiramakie, in which gold or silver dust is sprinkled onto a lacquer surface and covered with a clear lacquer and takamakie, lacquer decoration raised from the surface and then sprinkled with metal dust. Charles Truman has pointed out that the act of using panels from the imported boxes might seem like vandalism in our century; however, at the time it was both commonplace and demonstrated the esteem in which the art of the East were held.

The panels are set in a gold box made by Thomas-Pierre Breton (died 1767), the son of a Paris master goldsmith.

Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.
On long-term loan to Los Angeles County Museum from 2010.
Bibliographic references
  • Truman, Charles.The Gilbert collection of gold boxes, Vol. I. Los Angeles (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) 1991, cat. no. 6, pp. 42-43. ISBN.0875871623
  • Williams, Elizabeth A. The Gilbert Collection at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), 2010, fig. 44, p. 78. ISBN 9780875872100
  • Schroder, Timothy. Gold boxes : from the Gilbert collection : an exhibition, Los Angeles : Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1986 47
  • The art of the goldsmith & the jeweler; a loan exhibition for the benefit of the Young Women's Christian Association of the City of New York, New York : A La Vieille Russie, 1968 55
Other numbers
  • GB 95 - Arthur Gilbert Number
  • 1996.445 - The Gilbert Collection, Somerset House
  • L.2010.9.12 - LACMA Loan Number 2010
  • 1996.791.1 - The Gilbert Collection, Somerset House
  • MIN 26 - Arthur Gilbert Number
Collection
Accession number
LOAN:GILBERT.338-2008

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Record createdJune 19, 2008
Record URL
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