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Not currently on display at the V&A

Snuffbox

1819-1832 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The panels on this box are chased with scenes from Trajan's column. Trajan was Emperor of Rome from 98 to 117 AD and fought two wars against the Dacians. A triumphal column depicting his victories was erected in Rome, a full size replica of which can be found in the Museum's Cast Courts.

The Paris goldsmith Gabriel-Raoul Morel was noted for the range of media in which he worked. He is known to have used panels identical to this in a box with differently chased mounts. An inscription inside this box records that it was given to Sir Walter Farquhar by Count Woronzov. Farquhar was a army and naval surgeon who later became physician to the Prince of Wales, the future George IV.

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.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Cast and chased gold
Brief description
Snuffbox with Roman subjects after Trajan's Column. Gold, Gabriel-Raoul Morel, Paris, 1819-32.
Physical description
A rectangular gold snuffbox, set with six plaques cast and chased in relief with Roman subjects after Trajan's Column
Dimensions
  • Depth: 4.9cm
  • Width: 8.9cm
  • Height: 5.8cm
Measured 04/03/24 IW
Marks and inscriptions
Paris marks for 1819-32
Gallery label
  • 11. Snuffbox with scenes from Trajan’s Column 1819–32 Paris, France; mark of Gabriel-Raoul Morel (1764–1832) Cast and chased gold Formerly in the collection of King Farouk of Egypt Museum no. Loan:Gilbert.465-2008(16/11/2016)
  • Snuffbox with Roman scenes from Trajan’s Column 1819–32 Paris, France; mark of Gabriel-Raoul Morel (1764–1832) Cast and chased gold Formerly in the collection of King Farouk of Egypt A plaster cast of Trajan’s Column is displayed in the V&A Cast Courts Museum no. Loan:Gilbert.465-2008(2009)
Credit line
The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Object history
Provenance: King Farouk of Egypt; sale, 'The Palace Collections of Egypt', Sotheby's, Koubbeh Palace, Cairo, lot. 720, March 13, 1954. Sotheby's, London, lot. 141, November 25, 1968. Maurice Asprey.
Subjects depicted
Summary
The panels on this box are chased with scenes from Trajan's column. Trajan was Emperor of Rome from 98 to 117 AD and fought two wars against the Dacians. A triumphal column depicting his victories was erected in Rome, a full size replica of which can be found in the Museum's Cast Courts.

The Paris goldsmith Gabriel-Raoul Morel was noted for the range of media in which he worked. He is known to have used panels identical to this in a box with differently chased mounts. An inscription inside this box records that it was given to Sir Walter Farquhar by Count Woronzov. Farquhar was a army and naval surgeon who later became physician to the Prince of Wales, the future George IV.

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.
Bibliographic reference
Truman, Charles.The Gilbert collection of gold boxes, Vol. I. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1991, cat. no. 45, pp. 138-41. ISBN.0875871623
Other numbers
  • GB 130 - Arthur Gilbert Number
  • 1996.478 - The Gilbert Collection, Somerset House
Collection
Accession number
LOAN:GILBERT.465-2008

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Record createdJune 19, 2008
Record URL
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