Snuffbox
ca.1755 (marked)
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The Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, whose cipher decorates this box, ruled Russia from 1741 to 1762. She was an extravagant patroness of baroque architecture, the Winter Palace in St Petersburg being a notable example from her reign. The miniature of the Empress set inside the lid is based on the state portrait by French painter Louis Caravaque (1684-1754). This box was probably made in Dresden or Augsburg.
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
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| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Gold and amethystine quartz, set with a miniature on ivory under rock crystal. |
| Brief description | Gold, amethystine quartz, set with a miniature under rock crystal, Germany or Russia, ca.1755 |
| Physical description | Rectangular amethystine quartz snuffbox, the cover encrusted with gold chased as a reserve of scrolls and rocailles around an Imperially crowned Rococo cartouche enclosing the initials E P (for Elizabeth Petrovna) set between double-headed eagles and olive branches. The bombe walls are set at the front with the Order of St. Andrew the First Called within further scrolls and rocailles; the interior of the lid is set with a miniature, under rock crystal, of the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna (1709-62), shown bust length, crowned and wearing an ermine-bordered yellow robe over a jewelled dress and the sash of the Order of St. Andrew. |
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| Credit line | The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
| Object history | Provenance: Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia, 1904. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia, by 1908. Anonymous sale, Ball und Graupe, Berlin, 25 September 1930, lot 66. Sotheby's, Geneva, 13 May 1996, lot 235. S.J.Phillips, London, 1996. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | The Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, whose cipher decorates this box, ruled Russia from 1741 to 1762. She was an extravagant patroness of baroque architecture, the Winter Palace in St Petersburg being a notable example from her reign. The miniature of the Empress set inside the lid is based on the state portrait by French painter Louis Caravaque (1684-1754). This box was probably made in Dresden or Augsburg. 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.427-2008 |
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| Record created | June 19, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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