Gold and Églomisé snuffbox after designs by Jean-Guillaume Moitte
Gold and Églomisé snuffbox after designs by Jean-Guillaume Moitte
France, Paris
1789-1792
The gold mount by Viennot (Vienot), J.; the églomisé glass by an unidentified artist "F. Salis"
Gold, glass, ink; verre églomisé, chasing, matting
2.3 × 7.9 × 3.7 cm
Maker's mark; charge/discharge marks of the fermier général Jean-François Kalandrin (1789-1792); date letter; Paris small guarantee mark (petite recense, 1798-1809); "eagle's head" guarantee mark (1847-1919), struck twice; post-1831 Belgian control mark for foreign-made goods. The reverse panel is signed by the artist: Salis, F.
Rectangular gold snuffbox with canted corners, fitted with a hinged lid. The lid, base, and sides of the body are decorated with glass panels executed in the verre églomisé technique (gilding and painting on the reverse of glass), based on prints by the French sculptor and draughtsman Jean-Guillaume Moitte (1746–1810). The top panel depicts a multi-figure composition, "The Virtue of Lucretia," while the base features the classical subject "The Jewels of Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi." The narrative inserts on the front and back walls illustrate the scenes "Blind Belisarius Led to the Temple" and "Veturia at the Feet of Coriolanus," while the side panels and canted corners feature individual classical figures. Structurally and visually, the canted corners of the body are styled as raised columns. The entire perimeter of the lid's edges and the body's rims are highlighted by elegant chased friezes with a foliate pattern.
1803PC356/ДПИ