Gold snuffbox depicting genre scenes and attributes
Gold snuffbox depicting genre scenes and attributes
France, Paris
MDCCLXI
Maker: Charles Le Bastier Gold;
Gold; engine-turning (guilloché), chasing, polishing, engraving
2.8 x 8.0 x 6.1 cm, 203 g
Maker: Charles Le Bastier (master 1754–1783), Paris Maker's Mark: C.L.B. Assay / Date: With 'petite vache' discharge mark for export, Paris 1761–1762 (date letter 'X'). Other Marks: Maker's mark with initials “C L/B”; marks of the fermiers généraux (tax collectors/assayers) Eloy Brichard and Étienne Somfoye (1756–1762); export mark of Julien Berthe (1768–1774); top and bottom interior lids with three marks as well as the left interior wall; bottom left interior edge stamped with inventory number '882'. Right edge with one mark
Rectangular gold snuffbox with a hinged lid. The lid is decorated with wave-pattern engine-turning (guilloché) and features an applied scene in varicolored gold depicting a reclining hunter with his dog resting on a lawn next to a tree, a flowerpot on a pedestal, and sheep. Beneath the lid is a tobacco compartment of mirror-polished gold struck with hallmarks. The bottom panel, also featuring a wavy engine-turned field, is adorned with a varicolored gold applique depicting a reclining young man playing a pipe with a dog listening to him. A basket and a shotgun lie on the grass beneath a tree. The side panels are decorated with engine-turning and appliques depicting various hunting, musical, theatrical, and gardening attributes. The lid, bottom, and side panels are enclosed within borders of chased tracks, a polished groove, and a band with a chased ornament of intertwining ribbons, with applied rocaille motifs framed by foliage scrolls at the corners.
3440PC427/ДПИ