9 - Rectangular snuffbox made of black tortoiseshell, set in 2nd-title gold (840 parts per thousand)

Rectangular snuffbox made of black tortoiseshell, set in 2nd-title gold (840 parts per thousand) The lid, which opens on a hinge across its width, is inlaid with a rare oval miniature portrait depicting Armand-Jean du Plessis Cardinal de Richelieu (1585–1642), shown in a left-facing bust wearing the Cord of the Holy Spirit, based on a model by Philippe de Champaigne, in enamel painted on gold, encircled by gold within a rectangular frame on an amati background chased with palmettes and foliage, under slightly domed glass with a silver border featuring a wide band of blue enamel. Lined with gold on the inside. Missing blue enamel; a crack and minute chips in the mother-of-pearl. Paris, 1798–1838 (hallmark featuring a baby’s head). Silversmith: Adrien-Jean-Maximilien Vachette (active 1779–1839). The miniature is based on a work by Jean I Petitot (Geneva, 1607–Vevey, 1691). H. 3 x W. 2.5 cm (miniature). H. 2.1 x W. 5.3 x D. 7.1 cm (snuffbox). Gross weight: 110.6 g. Provenance - Martial Lapeyre Collection (1904–1984). - Fondation Napoléon (Paris) following the bequest by Martial Lapeyre in 1984. Exhibitions - Philippe Hoch (ed.), Splendors of the Empire: Around Napoleon and the Imperial Court, exhibition catalog, Manderen, Château de Malbrouck (March 15, 2009–August 31, 2009), Éditions Serpenoise, 2009, p. 85. - Bernard Chevallier (ed.), *Napoleone: Imperial Splendor—The Treasures of the Fondation Napoléon*, exhibition catalog, Rome, Museo Napoleonico (February 15, 2008–May 25, 2008) & Portoferraio, Museo Nazionale delle Residenze Napoleoniche (June 12, 2008–September 12, 2008), Éditions Sillabe, 2008, p. 191. Related Works - Philippe de Champaigne, Portrait of Cardinal Richelieu, oil on canvas, circa 1635–1640, Musée du Louvre (inv. 1136). - Jean I Petitot, Portrait of Cardinal Richelieu, enamel miniature, H. 3.7 x W. 3 cm, formerly in the Ennery Collection, Musée du Louvre (inv. 35686).