Design
1770 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
Design for the top and side of an oval, enamelled, gold, neo-classical snuffbox. The border around the outside of the top of the snuffbox shows three alternatives for decorationt. This design is signed and dated 'Duval', '1770'. The precise identity of Duval is unclear: two Duvals, both without other recorded names, are possible candidates; they were respectively an engraver (who engraved work by the painter Jean-François Boucher in 1774) and an architect (active at Versailles about 1780). The identity of this Duval is not the Swiss jeweller and box-maker Louis David Duval who worked in London and later in Russia and was still at St. Petersburg in 1770.
This design for a snuffbox was possibly for an elite client from the Court of Louis XV, King of France, from 1715 to 1774, at Versailles, Paris. The design is from an album of designs which date from about 1735-1820 and includes those for snuffboxes, scent holders, watches and watch cases, spoons, fans and fan mounts, small swords, and chatelaines (ornamental chains, pins, or clasps usually worn at a woman's waist, to which trinkets, keys, purses, or other articles are attached).
There is a close relationship between the contents of the album and known work by three Parisian goldsmiths, Jean Ducrollay (1710-1787), Pierre- François Drais (active 1761-1788), and Charles Ouizille (1744-1830) whose names appear on the first page of the album. This suggests that all the designs emanate from their workshops. Drais worked for the Court at Versailles as jeweller to both King Louis XV and Louis XVI. Ouizille worked in this capacity for Louis XVI. Most of the material dates from the period 1755-90.
This design for a snuffbox was possibly for an elite client from the Court of Louis XV, King of France, from 1715 to 1774, at Versailles, Paris. The design is from an album of designs which date from about 1735-1820 and includes those for snuffboxes, scent holders, watches and watch cases, spoons, fans and fan mounts, small swords, and chatelaines (ornamental chains, pins, or clasps usually worn at a woman's waist, to which trinkets, keys, purses, or other articles are attached).
There is a close relationship between the contents of the album and known work by three Parisian goldsmiths, Jean Ducrollay (1710-1787), Pierre- François Drais (active 1761-1788), and Charles Ouizille (1744-1830) whose names appear on the first page of the album. This suggests that all the designs emanate from their workshops. Drais worked for the Court at Versailles as jeweller to both King Louis XV and Louis XVI. Ouizille worked in this capacity for Louis XVI. Most of the material dates from the period 1755-90.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Materials and techniques | Pen and ink and wash on paper |
Brief description | Design form album of designs by Ouizille, French, eighteenth century. NOT TO BE ISSUED WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE HEAD OF DESIGNS |
Physical description | Design for the top and side of an oval, enamelled gold neo-classical snuffbox, in a ruled border. The decorative border around the outside of the top of the snuffbox shows three alernatives for embellishment. |
Dimensions |
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Production type | Design |
Marks and inscriptions | 'Duval delineavit 1770'
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Credit line | Purchased with the assistance of Wartski Limited |
Production | The precise identity of Duval is unclear. Two Duvals, both without other recorded names, are possible candidates; they were respectively an engraver (e.g. after Boucher in 1774) and an architect (active at Versailles c.1780). The Swiss jeweller and box-maker Louis David Duval, who worked in London and later in Russia, was still at St. Petersburg in 1770. Attribution note: The decorative border around the outside of the top of the snuffbox shows three alernatives for embellishment. |
Subject depicted | |
Summary | Design for the top and side of an oval, enamelled, gold, neo-classical snuffbox. The border around the outside of the top of the snuffbox shows three alternatives for decorationt. This design is signed and dated 'Duval', '1770'. The precise identity of Duval is unclear: two Duvals, both without other recorded names, are possible candidates; they were respectively an engraver (who engraved work by the painter Jean-François Boucher in 1774) and an architect (active at Versailles about 1780). The identity of this Duval is not the Swiss jeweller and box-maker Louis David Duval who worked in London and later in Russia and was still at St. Petersburg in 1770. This design for a snuffbox was possibly for an elite client from the Court of Louis XV, King of France, from 1715 to 1774, at Versailles, Paris. The design is from an album of designs which date from about 1735-1820 and includes those for snuffboxes, scent holders, watches and watch cases, spoons, fans and fan mounts, small swords, and chatelaines (ornamental chains, pins, or clasps usually worn at a woman's waist, to which trinkets, keys, purses, or other articles are attached). There is a close relationship between the contents of the album and known work by three Parisian goldsmiths, Jean Ducrollay (1710-1787), Pierre- François Drais (active 1761-1788), and Charles Ouizille (1744-1830) whose names appear on the first page of the album. This suggests that all the designs emanate from their workshops. Drais worked for the Court at Versailles as jeweller to both King Louis XV and Louis XVI. Ouizille worked in this capacity for Louis XVI. Most of the material dates from the period 1755-90. |
Bibliographic reference | Heike Zech, 'Designs for Gold Boxes in the Album of the Workshop of Jean Ducrollay and his Successors', in Going for Gold: craftsmanship and collecting of gold boxes, ed. Tessa Murdoch and Heike Zech (Sussex academic press, 2014). |
Collection | |
Accession number | E.897:193-1988 |
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Record created | June 5, 2006 |
Record URL |
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