Snuffbox
ca.1800 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
The blue reserve shows the name of Pope Pius IX (1792-1878) picked out in diamonds. It was added about 1850-70 so that the box could be used as a gift from the Pope.
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, enamel, diamonds |
Brief description | Snuffbox, gold and enamel set with diamonds, Geneva, ca.1800 |
Physical description | Oval gold snuffbox, enamelled in duck-egg blue with borders of black arabesques and gold paillons within opaque white lines. The walls are divided by four opaque white pilasters, the cover later painted with a blue reserve and set with diamonds with the words PIUS IX within a diamond border. The leather case is applied with the pontifical arms of Pius IX. |
Dimensions |
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Marks and inscriptions |
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Gallery label | 7. Snuffbox, about 1800, with name of Pope Pius IX, 1850–70
Museum no. Loan:Gilbert.520-2008(16/11/2016) |
Credit line | The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
Object history | Provenance Acquired by Arthur Gilbert from S.J. Phillips Ltd, London, 1995 |
Subjects depicted | |
Summary | The blue reserve shows the name of Pope Pius IX (1792-1878) picked out in diamonds. It was added about 1850-70 so that the box could be used as a gift from the Pope. 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. 44, p. 73. ISBN.0856675210 |
Other numbers |
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Collection | |
Accession number | LOAN:GILBERT.520-2008 |
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Record created | June 19, 2008 |
Record URL |
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