Snuffbox
1772-73 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Pierre-François Drais was the pupil and cousin of the famous goldsmith Jean Ducrollay. In 1786, he entered into partnership with Charles Ouizille. An album of designs from Ducrollay's workshop, including designs used by Drais and Ouizille is now in the collection of the V&A (museum no. E.897-1988). In 1770, Drais supplied 4800 livres of presents to be distributed at the marriage of the future Louis XVI to Marie-Antoinette.
The chasing of the mythological scenes has been attributed by Charles Truman to Gérard Debèche fils. Debèche appears in the court records, bailed out by his father who was also a gold chaser, for an episode of juvenile excess, taunting a chemist with an enema, throwing stones and breaking a gold-mounted tortoiseshell box. A Gérard Debèche, possibly the chaser of this box, is recorded as working with Drais on a gold box for the corbeille de mariage of Marie-Antoinette. It was supplied for 6000 livres but he had to reduce his price to 4800, despite his protestations about the quality of the work.
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.
The chasing of the mythological scenes has been attributed by Charles Truman to Gérard Debèche fils. Debèche appears in the court records, bailed out by his father who was also a gold chaser, for an episode of juvenile excess, taunting a chemist with an enema, throwing stones and breaking a gold-mounted tortoiseshell box. A Gérard Debèche, possibly the chaser of this box, is recorded as working with Drais on a gold box for the corbeille de mariage of Marie-Antoinette. It was supplied for 6000 livres but he had to reduce his price to 4800, despite his protestations about the quality of the work.
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
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| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Chased, engraved and enamelled gold, glass |
| Brief description | Snuffbox with mythological scenes. Gold, enamel, glass. Pierre-François Drais, Paris, 1772-73 |
| Physical description | A rectangular, varicoloured-gold and enamel snuffbox with canted corners, set with six oval panels of gold, chased in relief on a sablé ground. The panel on the cover depicts young girls and putti sacrificing to a herm of Priapus; that on the base, Venus riding on a dolphin, attended by putti; the walls with Venus or a nymph, Pan and putti. Each panel is bordered by acanthus and set under glass, framed by gold strapwork and surrounded by panels of green basse taille enamel over engraved scrolling foliage, with pellet and stylized-leaf border. The walls are divided by eight pilasters hung with swags; the rim of the lid is decorated with interlaced laurels. |
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| Credit line | The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
| Object history | Provenance: Baron P.P. Dournovo, Saint Petersburg. Ball and Graupe, Berlin, lot 99 (anonymous sale by the Soviet government), September 24, 1930. Sotheby's, Zurich, lot 101, November 7, 1975. British Rail Pension Fund, sale, Sotheby's, Geneva, lot 32, May 15, 1990. S.J. Phillips, London, 1990. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Pierre-François Drais was the pupil and cousin of the famous goldsmith Jean Ducrollay. In 1786, he entered into partnership with Charles Ouizille. An album of designs from Ducrollay's workshop, including designs used by Drais and Ouizille is now in the collection of the V&A (museum no. E.897-1988). In 1770, Drais supplied 4800 livres of presents to be distributed at the marriage of the future Louis XVI to Marie-Antoinette. The chasing of the mythological scenes has been attributed by Charles Truman to Gérard Debèche fils. Debèche appears in the court records, bailed out by his father who was also a gold chaser, for an episode of juvenile excess, taunting a chemist with an enema, throwing stones and breaking a gold-mounted tortoiseshell box. A Gérard Debèche, possibly the chaser of this box, is recorded as working with Drais on a gold box for the corbeille de mariage of Marie-Antoinette. It was supplied for 6000 livres but he had to reduce his price to 4800, despite his protestations about the quality of the work. 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. |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | LOAN:GILBERT.371-2008 |
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| Record created | June 19, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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