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Snuffbox thumbnail 2
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Snuffbox

1786-87 (marked), ca. 1785 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

These panels were probably made at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence around 1785, a workshop specialising in hardstone mosaics, set up in 1558 under Ferdinando I de Medici.

The cockerel is a recurrent motif in Florentine commessi (stone mosaics) since the 17th century and appears again in decorative arts (notably porcelain services) from the 1760s, following the success of ornithological publications, notably the Comte de Buffon’s Natural History of Birds (published in nine volumes between 1749 and 1804). The association of the cockerel with French national identity became evident only after the Revolution. For the dramatic effect of the plumage here, relatively larger sections of variegated Bohemian and Florentine jaspers have been used instead of smaller aggregated pieces.

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
Chased gold, carved bloodstone, hardstone mosaic
Brief description
Snuffbox with hardstone mosaic of a cockerel. Gold, bloodstone and hardstone. Adrien-Jean-Maximilien Vachette, Paris, 1786-87
Physical description
A rectangular gold-mounted hardstone snuffbox with canted corners, comprising of eight panels of bloodstone mounted à cage in gold chased with stylized foliage and pilasters. The cover is set with a Florentine mosaic (commesso di pietre dure) of a cockerel, the base with a mosaic of two fowl.
Dimensions
  • Depth: 34mm
  • Width: 81mm
  • Height: 58mm
  • Weight: 180g
Measured 25/04/24 IW
Gallery label
(16/11/2016 - 2024)
5. Snuffbox with cockerel
Box: 1786–87; stone panels: about 1785

Box: Parism France Adrien-Jean-Maximilien Vachette (1753-1839, goldsmith);
Mosaic: Florence, Italy, Opificio delle Pietre Dure
Gold, bloodstone and hardstones
Museum no. Loan:Gilbert.438-2008
(2009)
Snuffbox with cockerel
Box: 1786–7. Mosaic: about 1785
Box: Paris, France;
mark of Adrien-Jean-Maximilien Vachette (1753–1839)
Mosaic: Florence, Italy; probably Grand Ducal Workshop (Opificio delle Pietre Dure)
Chased gold, bloodstone and pietre dure (hardstone mosaic)
Museum no. Loan:Gilbert.438-2008
Credit line
The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Object history
Provenance: Commander Clare Vyner, removed from Studley Royal, Yorkshire. Christie's, London, June 21, 1966, lot 88. S.J. Phillips, London, 1989.

Adrien-Jean-Maximilien Vachette was noted for his use of unusual materials. He often used imported materials such as Japanese lacquers and is even known to have mounted a box with polished fragments of ancient Roman glass.
Production
Box: 1786-7. Mosaic: about 1785.
Subject depicted
Summary
These panels were probably made at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence around 1785, a workshop specialising in hardstone mosaics, set up in 1558 under Ferdinando I de Medici.

The cockerel is a recurrent motif in Florentine commessi (stone mosaics) since the 17th century and appears again in decorative arts (notably porcelain services) from the 1760s, following the success of ornithological publications, notably the Comte de Buffon’s Natural History of Birds (published in nine volumes between 1749 and 1804). The association of the cockerel with French national identity became evident only after the Revolution. For the dramatic effect of the plumage here, relatively larger sections of variegated Bohemian and Florentine jaspers have been used instead of smaller aggregated pieces.

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 references
  • Truman, Charles.The Gilbert collection of gold boxes, Vol. I. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1991, cat. no. 34, pp. 113-14. ISBN.0875871623
  • Massinelli, Anna Maria with contributions by Jeanette Hanisee Gabriel. Hardstones: The Gilbert Collection. London: Philip Wilson Publishers Ltd. in association with The Gilbert Collection, 2000, cat. no. 60, p.151. ISBN 0856675105.
Other numbers
  • GB 148 - Arthur Gilbert Number
  • 1996.496 - The Gilbert Collection, Somerset House
Collection
Accession number
LOAN:GILBERT.438-2008

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Record createdJune 19, 2008
Record URL
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