Snuffbox
1810 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The manufacture of musical movements was a specialty of the craftsmen of Geneva, who were extremely skilled at producing small musical boxes such as this one. However, this box does not bear any marks, and so it is possible that while the movement is Swiss, the gold box may be Italian, like the micomosaic mounted in the cover.
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
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | Chased and engine-turned gold with micromosaic, amethyst. |
| Brief description | A small oval varicoloured gold musical snuffbox, Geneva, ca.1810 |
| Physical description | A small oval varicoloured gold musical snuffbox, the cover set with a micromosaic depicting two travellers in classical dress in a landscape, bordered by gold chased with foliage and acorns tied with ribbons, the walls and base engine-turned and bordered by foliage, flowers, and vases. An associated key is of gold and amethyst. |
| Dimensions |
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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: Maurice Asprey, London. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | The manufacture of musical movements was a specialty of the craftsmen of Geneva, who were extremely skilled at producing small musical boxes such as this one. However, this box does not bear any marks, and so it is possible that while the movement is Swiss, the gold box may be Italian, like the micomosaic mounted in the cover. 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, Vol. I. Los Angeles (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) 1991, cat. no. 123, pp. 352-3. ISBN.0875871623 |
| Other numbers |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | LOAN:GILBERT.1037:1, 2-2008 |
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| Record created | June 26, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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