Snuffbox
ca. 1780 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This snuffbox, likely made in Geneva around 1780, features ten miniature rustic genre scenes painted in watercolour and body colour on vellum. Though attributed to a Swiss maker, the box bears marks that attempt to liken it to the finest craftsmanship of the French ancien régime. The miniatures could be of a Swiss or French hand.
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, silver, diamonds, glazed miniatures |
| Brief description | Snuffbox, gold, set with diamonds and ten miniatures in watercolour and body colour on vellum, under glass, Geneva, ca.1780 |
| Physical description | Octagonal varicoloured gold snuffbox with pilasters at the corners, set with ten miniatures in watercolour and body colour on vellum, under glass, depicting peasants in various idyllic pursuits, mounted in gold chased with scrolls, foliage and swags, and with foliate thumbpiece of diamonds in silver settings. |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| 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, Geneva, 19 November, 1997, lot 257. S.J. Phillips, London, 1997. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This snuffbox, likely made in Geneva around 1780, features ten miniature rustic genre scenes painted in watercolour and body colour on vellum. Though attributed to a Swiss maker, the box bears marks that attempt to liken it to the finest craftsmanship of the French ancien régime. The miniatures could be of a Swiss or French hand. 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. 43, p. 72. ISBN.0856675210 |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | LOAN:GILBERT.362-2008 |
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| Record created | June 19, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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