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Snuffbox

ca. 1819-1838 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Paris (marked)

This box appears to have been made in Paris in 1830 from earlier components. The gold mounts on the lid appear to be English, from about 1750 and the enamelled plaque from the mid-1700s. The engine-turned bloodstone, engraved with a basketwork pattern and the mounts on the walls of the box were probably made in the 1800s.

The enamelled scene is taken from Louis-Félix de la Rue's engraving of L'Eté by François Boucher (1703-70). Boucher's scenes of courtship and country life were a popular source of decoration for gold boxes.


Object details

Categories
Metalwork
Jewellery
Containers
Object type
Snuffbox
Materials and techniques
Chased gold, engine-turned bloodstone, moulded silver, set diamonds and enamel painting
Gold
Blood-Stone
Silver
Diamonds
Enamel Paint
Chasing
Engine Turning
Moulding
Setting
Panel Painting (Image-Making)
Brief description
Snuffbox, engine-turned bloodstone, the cover set with an enamelled plaque. Paris, ca.1819-38.
Physical description
A rectangular jewelled, gold-mounted hardstone and enamel snuffbox, comprising ten panels of bloodstone engine-turned with a basketwork pattern, the cover set with an oval enamel plaque of two cavorting putti
Dimensions
  • Length: 8.3cm
  • Width: 6.7cm
  • Height: 4.2cm
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, 4 October 1984.
Summary
This box appears to have been made in Paris in 1830 from earlier components. The gold mounts on the lid appear to be English, from about 1750 and the enamelled plaque from the mid-1700s. The engine-turned bloodstone, engraved with a basketwork pattern and the mounts on the walls of the box were probably made in the 1800s.

The enamelled scene is taken from Louis-Félix de la Rue's engraving of L'Eté by François Boucher (1703-70). Boucher's scenes of courtship and country life were a popular source of decoration for gold boxes.
Bibliographic references
  • Truman, Charles.The Gilbert collection of gold boxes, Vol. I. Los Angeles (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) 1991, cat. no. 49, pp. 152-53. ISBN.0875871623
  • Schroder, Timothy. Gold boxes : from the Gilbert collection : an exhibition, Los Angeles : Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1986 34
  • 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 132
Other numbers
  • GB 96 - Arthur Gilbert Number
  • 1996.446 - The Gilbert Collection, Somerset House
  • GB 215 - Arthur Gilbert Number
  • 1998.17 - The Gilbert Collection, Somerset House
Collection
Metalwork Collection
Accession number
LOAN:GILBERT.511-2008

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Record createdJune 19, 2008
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O156501/snuffbox-unknown/
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