Box
ca. 1761 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This superbly enamelled snuff box was made as the rococo was already giving way to neo-classicism. The discharge mark,which, unlike the other marks, was not struck until the box had been completed, cannot have been struck earlier than 1 October 1762. The cartouches around the scenes and the scrolls remain fully rococo, although there is a symmetry to the cartouches which is quite different from the asymmetry which can be found in metalwork from the late 1720s onwards. Completely neo-classical designs for snuff boxes were made in Paris as early as 1759, and by 1763 the Baron de Grimm reported that fashion-conscious petit-maîtres(fops) believed themselves dishonoured if they did not carry a box à la grecque.
The goldsmith's marks struck on the pieces of the box before it was made have not survived the making, and it is therefore not possible to identify the goldsmith whose workshop was responsible for the box. The enamelling of the figures and of the flowers on a chocolate ground appear to be from the hand of an enamel painter who signed a small number of boxes in the 1750s and early 1760s as Le Sueur (see, for example, Loan:Gilbert.324-2008).
The goldsmith's marks struck on the pieces of the box before it was made have not survived the making, and it is therefore not possible to identify the goldsmith whose workshop was responsible for the box. The enamelling of the figures and of the flowers on a chocolate ground appear to be from the hand of an enamel painter who signed a small number of boxes in the 1750s and early 1760s as Le Sueur (see, for example, Loan:Gilbert.324-2008).
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Enamelled and engraved gold |
| Brief description | Rectangular gold box enamelled with the Four Seasons, Paris, ca. 1761 |
| Physical description | Gold box painted in polychrome enamel with figures representing the Four Seasons. On the lid is Spring: two seated lovers eat cherries while a figure in the foreground beats a drum and plays a pipe, and a boy and a girl in the background pick cherries from a tree. On the front is Summer: two semi-reclining lovers sit in front of bullrushes. On the base is Autumn: two lovers eat grapes. On the back is Winter: two lovers warm themselves in front of a fire. On the left side is a vignette of fruit, including a melon, a glass and a bottle of red wine. On the right side, a a vignette of pears, peaches and grapes. All the scenes are set within broad, gently curving cartouches, symmetrical about their north-south axes and the edges bright-cut. Outside the cartouches are panels of blue enamel simulating lapis lazuli, and of enamelled flowers and foliage on a chocolate ground. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Bequeathed by John Jones |
| Object history | Within the context of Paris manufacture, a late rococo snuff box made as the turn to neo-classicism was already under way. Bequeathed with the Jones Collection to the South Kensington Museum, and accessioned in 1882. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | This superbly enamelled snuff box was made as the rococo was already giving way to neo-classicism. The discharge mark,which, unlike the other marks, was not struck until the box had been completed, cannot have been struck earlier than 1 October 1762. The cartouches around the scenes and the scrolls remain fully rococo, although there is a symmetry to the cartouches which is quite different from the asymmetry which can be found in metalwork from the late 1720s onwards. Completely neo-classical designs for snuff boxes were made in Paris as early as 1759, and by 1763 the Baron de Grimm reported that fashion-conscious petit-maîtres(fops) believed themselves dishonoured if they did not carry a box à la grecque. The goldsmith's marks struck on the pieces of the box before it was made have not survived the making, and it is therefore not possible to identify the goldsmith whose workshop was responsible for the box. The enamelling of the figures and of the flowers on a chocolate ground appear to be from the hand of an enamel painter who signed a small number of boxes in the 1750s and early 1760s as Le Sueur (see, for example, Loan:Gilbert.324-2008). |
| Bibliographic reference | Catalogue of the Jones Collection. Victoria and Albert Museum, 1924. Part II. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 916-1882 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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