659 - An enamelled double-box with gold tendril ornament

An enamelled double-box with gold tendril ornament White enamel and gilding on copper, silver mounts with Parisian hallmarks. Minor wear to the base. Height 3.5, width 7.7, depth 6 cm. Berlin, attributed to the Fromery Manufactory, first third 18th C. The most famous Berlin product, which was distributed throughout Europe, were the coloured enamel boxes produced by the Fromery manufactory. Pierre Fromery (1679-1738) was originally a goldsmith but subsequently specialised in the production of enamelled copper objects with gilt decoration and established a large-scale distribution business for objets de galanterie (brushes, snuff boxes and scent bottles), which was taken over by his son Alexander (1695-1775) after his death. The fine repeating gold tendril design may possibly be attributed to the goldsmith Christoph Conrad Hunger. He appears under suspicion of having sold the Meissen Arcanum to Vienna in 1717 in Steinbrück’s manufactory report of 9 February 1719, described as a “goldsmith’s journeyman who had already been in France and Berlin”. His date of birth is unknown, and Rainer Rückert only mentions that he originated from Thuringia. Provenance Private collection Westphalia. Literature For information on Hunger, see Rückert, Biographische Daten der Meißener Manufakturisten des 18. Jahrhunderts, Munich 1990, p. 162 ff.