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Snuffbox

1755-80 (made), 1775-1780 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The snuffboxes and other luxury objects by goldsmith Johann Christian Neuber (active 1762-1808) are well-recognised for making use of a variety of hardstones arranged in colourful patterns to create fabulous minerological objects. The colourful stones are set within gold cells, a technique known as zellenmosaik. The ‘pearls’ on this box are actually simulated using stone. Neuber used tapered rods of rock crystal hollowed out on the underside and filled with a silver substance. The final effect is close to the lustre of real pearls.

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. Arthur recognised Neuber’s exquisite technical skill and acquired seven of his iconic snuffboxes in total.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Chased gold with agate, lapis lazuli, chalcedony, carnelian, moss agate, blue and yellow glass paste (glass), and simulated pearls
Brief description
A rectangular, gold-mounted hardstone snuffbox, the cover set with an enamel miniature of a young lady.
Physical description
A rectangular, gold-mounted hardstone snuffbox with canted corners, set with a Zellenmosaik of agate, lapis lazuli, chalcedony, carnelian, moss agate, blue and yellow paste (glass), and simulated pearls in false gadroons and ovals within a border of foliage and flowers, the cover set with an oval, bust-length enamel miniature of a young lady.
Dimensions
  • Length: 8.2cm
  • Width: 5.9cm
  • Height: 3.1cm
Marks and inscriptions
Import mark, France, May 10, 1838-May 31, 1864 (On the bezel)
Gallery label
  • 6. Snuffbox with young woman, 1775–80 Museum no. Loan:Gilbert.350-2008(16/11/2016)
  • Snuffbox with young woman Box: about 1780. Miniature: 1775–80 Box: Dresden, Germany; probably Johann Christian Neuber (1736–1808) Miniature: Paris, France; probably Nicolas Claude Vassal (active 1766–79) Gold, hardstones and enamel; the miniature, although contemporary with the box, may be a later replacement Museum no. Loan:Gilbert.350-2008(2009)
Credit line
The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Object history
Provenance: Eugen Gutmann Collection, Berlin, 1912. Important Gold Boxes. Sale, Christie's, Geneva, lot. 83, 10 May 1983. Acquired by Arthur Gilbert from Garrard & Co, London, 1987.

Whilst the box was probably made in Dresden around 1780, the miniature may have been painted up to five years earlier, probably by Nicolas Claude Vassal (active 1766-79) in Paris.

Eugen Gutmann built a collection of gold and silver treasures, catalogued in 1912 as including this box. After his death the bulk of the collection went to his son, Friedrich (1886 - 1944) in the Netherlands. From 1940, Nazi art dealers repeatedly descended upon the Gutmanns' home. In 1942 they compelled Friedrich to send his father's collection to Munich. In 1943, Friedrich and his wife Louise (1892 - 1944) were deported to the Theresienstadt Ghetto, and they were murdered. Apart from the 1912 catalogue, there are no records of this snuffbox until it reappeared on the art market in 1983.

This object formed part of the V&A's special provenance display 'Concealed Histories: Uncovering the Story of Nazi Looting' (December 2019 - June 2021)
Subjects depicted
Summary
The snuffboxes and other luxury objects by goldsmith Johann Christian Neuber (active 1762-1808) are well-recognised for making use of a variety of hardstones arranged in colourful patterns to create fabulous minerological objects. The colourful stones are set within gold cells, a technique known as zellenmosaik. The ‘pearls’ on this box are actually simulated using stone. Neuber used tapered rods of rock crystal hollowed out on the underside and filled with a silver substance. The final effect is close to the lustre of real pearls.

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. Arthur recognised Neuber’s exquisite technical skill and acquired seven of his iconic snuffboxes in total.
Bibliographic references
  • Holzhausen, Walter. Johann Christian Neuber, Dresden, 1935, fig. 20.
  • Truman, Charles.The Gilbert collection of gold boxes, Vol. I. Los Angeles (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) 1991, cat. no. 79, pp. 232-3. ISBN.0875871623
  • Coffin, Sarah and Bodo Hofstetter. Portrait Miniatures in Enamel. London: Philip Wilson Publishers Ltd. in association with the Gilbert Collection, 2000. 168 p., ill. Cat. no. 58, p. 109. ISBN 0856675334.
  • Massinelli, Anna Maria with contributions by Jeanette Hanisee Gabriel. Hardstones: The Gilbert Collection. London: Philip Wilson Publishers Ltd. in association with The Gilbert Collection, 2000, 329 p., ill. Cat. no. 59, p. 150. ISBN 0856675105.
  • The World of Interiors. London: Pharos Publications Ltd, December 1996, pp. 104-105.
  • https://web.archive.org/web/20230606004515/https://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/museum-life/concealed-histories-uncovering-the-story-of-nazi-looting
Other numbers
  • GB 135 - Arthur Gilbert Number
  • 1996.483 - The Gilbert Collection, Somerset House
  • 1996.791.1 - The Gilbert Collection, Somerset House
  • MIN 26 - Arthur Gilbert Number
Collection
Accession number
LOAN:GILBERT.350-2008

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Record createdJune 19, 2008
Record URL
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