Snuffbox
ca. 1800 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This box is decorated with imported panels of Japanese hiramaki-e lacquer, which would have been cut to fit the sides of the box. Whilst this was a common technique in France, to find it on a Viennese box is extremely rare.
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.
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 | Gold, Japanese lacquer |
| Brief description | Gold, Japanese lacquer, Vienna, ca.1800, Johann Georg Aigner |
| Physical description | Octagonal gold snuffbox set with ten panels of Japanese hiramaki-e lacquer, with pilasters around the walls. The cover is painted with two travellers holding umbrellas towards the rain in a stormy landscape, the base with prunus blossom, the walls with ships, seascapes and landscapes mounted in a cagework of gold chased with scrolling foliage on a matted ground. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | In the lid and in the base:
Mark of Johann Georg Aigner, goldsmith registered in Vienna, 1789-1820
Town mark of Vienna |
| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
| Object history | Provenance: Christie's, London, 27 October, 1964, lot 89. Christie's, Geneva, 14 May, 1996, lot 312. S.J. Phillips, London, 1996. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This box is decorated with imported panels of Japanese hiramaki-e lacquer, which would have been cut to fit the sides of the box. Whilst this was a common technique in France, to find it on a Viennese box is extremely rare. 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, volume II, London: Philip Wilson Publishers Ltd., 1999, cat. no. 58, p.93. ISBN.0856675210 |
| Other numbers |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | LOAN:GILBERT.339-2008 |
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| Record created | June 19, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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