Snuffbox
1747-48 (marked)
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| Place of origin |
Claude de Villiers, whose mark appears upon this box, was one of the privileged goldsmiths working directly for the French royal household at the Gobelins factory in Paris. Vallayer may have made the whole box and de Villiers may just have had it assayed, or de Villiers may have made the frame for Vallayer's panels. The box is decorated with a number of mythological and allegorical scenes. Upon the lid, the goddess Minerva is depicted. Minerva was the virgin Roman goddess of warriors, poetry and crafts.
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
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| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Gold panels inlaid with mother of pearl and various other shells mounted in a cagework of enamelled gold. |
| Brief description | Gold panels inlaid with mother-of-pearl and various other shells, mounted in a cagework of enamelled gold, Paris, 1747-8, Claude de Villers and Joseph Vallayer |
| Physical description | Rectangular gold snuffbox, each side of which is set with a panel decorated in mother-of-pearl and various other shells with allegorical scenes. On the cover Minerva greets Plenty beneath Victory; on the base is an infant Hermes and two putti with a ship in full sail; the walls depict the Arts and Sciences, mounted in a cagework of gold, enamelled in translucent green with a trailing olive branch. |
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| Credit line | The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
| Object history | Provenance: The Ortiz-Patiño Collection of Highly Important Gold Boxes, Part III, sale, Christie's, London, lot 20, 26/06/1974. S.J. Phillips, London, 1995. |
| Production | Vallayer may have made the whole box and de Villers may just have had it assayed, or de Villers may have made the frame for Vallayer's panels. Made at Gobelins. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Claude de Villiers, whose mark appears upon this box, was one of the privileged goldsmiths working directly for the French royal household at the Gobelins factory in Paris. Vallayer may have made the whole box and de Villiers may just have had it assayed, or de Villiers may have made the frame for Vallayer's panels. The box is decorated with a number of mythological and allegorical scenes. Upon the lid, the goddess Minerva is depicted. Minerva was the virgin Roman goddess of warriors, poetry and crafts. 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. |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | LOAN:GILBERT.411-2008 |
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| Record created | June 19, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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