Description
Porcelain trompe-l'oeil snuff box with gold mount, the silver clasp adorned with an emerald cabochon shouldered by four 18th-century crowned roses. The porcelain is probably Meissen, the mounts foreign work in 582 thousandths gold and 800 thousandths silver (exemption from affixing the State hallmark on work in precious metals (article 524 bis C and article 275 ter M annexe I 3° of the French General Tax Code). The exterior is decorated in imitation of an envelope, inscribed on the front in black A Monsieur / Monsieur de Sanssouci / Chevalier de belle humeur dans la rüe des / bons enfans a l'enseigne des charmes / a / Paris and in red with the letters r/z, the reverse imitating a red wax seal with a monogram CLG and an inscription in black N°.9r., the inside of the lid with polychrome decoration of a gallant scene after François Boucher (lid restored, chip restored to an inside corner of the body, minor wear). H: 9.5 - W: 7.5 - D: 2.5 cm Provenance by oral tradition : - Joseph Duveen, 1st Baron Duveen (1869-1939) ; - Acquired by Violet Trefusis (1894-1972); - Bequeathed to Philippe Julian (1919-1977). Three other rare examples in the same spirit, attributed to Meissen, are listed. The first is illustrated by Barbara Beaucamp-Markowsky, Boites en porcelaine des manufactures européennes au 18e siècle, Fribourg, 1985, p. 164; the other two are in the collections of the Victoria & Albert museum, London (on loan from the Gilbert Collection, inv. 500-2008 and 502-2008). These boxes were certainly gifts offered as gallant souvenirs using the handwriting of the person offering them, probably including a real letter inside, thus multiplying its message tenfold; then finally used to store tobacco or any other personal item. The Meissen factory certainly had the largest production of porcelain boxes in Europe in the 18th century; a list of models kept by the factory in 1765 mentions eleven different models, the most ordinary being decorated with flowers. The interior decoration of "our" model is inspired by François Boucher's painting Le Pasteur galant, painted in 1738 for the Prince de Rohan's audience room at the Hôtel de Soubise in Paris; it was engraved by André Laurent in 1742. This quickly famous scene was reproduced several times, notably at the Sèvres factory by Charles-Nicolas Dodin on different pieces; for a commentary on this subject and examples in Sèvres porcelain, see the exhibition catalog by Marie-Laure de Rochebrune, Splendeur de la peinture sur porcelaine au XVIIIe siècle, Charles-Nicolas Dodin et la manufacture de Vincennes-Sèvres, Paris, 2012, pp. 102-103 and p. 187.
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Porcelain trompe-l'oeil snuff box with gold mount, the silver clasp adorned with an emerald cabochon shouldered by four 18th-century crowned roses. The porcelain is probably Meissen, the mounts foreign work in 582 thousandths gold and 800 thousandths silver (exemption from affixing the State hallmark on work in precious metals (article 524 bis C and article 275 ter M annexe I 3° of the French General Tax Code). The exterior is decorated in imitation of an envelope, inscribed on the front in black A Monsieur / Monsieur de Sanssouci / Chevalier de belle humeur dans la rüe des / bons enfans a l'enseigne des charmes / a / Paris and in red with the letters r/z, the reverse imitating a red wax seal with a monogram CLG and an inscription in black N°.9r., the inside of the lid with polychrome decoration of a gallant scene after François Boucher (lid restored, chip restored to an inside corner of the body, minor wear). H: 9.5 - W: 7.5 - D: 2.5 cm Provenance by oral tradition : - Joseph Duveen, 1st Baron Duveen (1869-1939) ; - Acquired by Violet Trefusis (1894-1972); - Bequeathed to Philippe Julian (1919-1977). Three other rare examples in the same spirit, attributed to Meissen, are listed. The first is illustrated by Barbara Beaucamp-Markowsky, Boites en porcelaine des manufactures européennes au 18e siècle, Fribourg, 1985, p. 164; the other two are in the collections of the Victoria & Albert museum, London (on loan from the Gilbert Collection, inv. 500-2008 and 502-2008). These boxes were certainly gifts offered as gallant souvenirs using the handwriting of the person offering them, probably including a real letter inside, thus multiplying its message tenfold; then finally used to store tobacco or any other personal item. The Meissen factory certainly had the largest production of porcelain boxes in Europe in the 18th century; a list of models kept by the factory in 1765 mentions eleven different models, the most ordinary being decorated with flowers. The interior decoration of "our" model is inspired by François Boucher's painting Le Pasteur galant, painted in 1738 for the Prince de Rohan's audience room at the Hôtel de Soubise in Paris; it was engraved by André Laurent in 1742. This quickly famous scene was reproduced several times, notably at the Sèvres factory by Charles-Nicolas Dodin on different pieces; for a commentary on this subject and examples in Sèvres porcelain, see the exhibition catalog by Marie-Laure de Rochebrune, Splendeur de la peinture sur porcelaine au XVIIIe siècle, Charles-Nicolas Dodin et la manufacture de Vincennes-Sèvres, Paris, 2012, pp. 102-103 and p. 187.
