Snuffbox with pearl ornamentation
Snuffbox with pearl ornamentation
France, Paris
1785–1786
Joseph Etienne Blerzy
Gold, enamel
2.3 x 7.3 cm
Maker’s mark, charge and discharge marks of Henry Clavel and Jean François Kalendrin, 1782– 1789, date letter P85, 1785–1786, French eagle head control mark, 1847–1919, struck twice
For the decoration of the borders of this box Blerzy has added opaque turquoise enamel beading to the combination of translucent green, opalescent pink and opaque white enamel. The paillon decoration is also further developed: rather than a single repeat unit, four different elements are used – a pellet, a trefoil and a quatrefoil to create the repeat pattern and an attenuated S element for the rope-twist border. As an additional embellishment the quatrefoil motif is picked out in translucent green enamel, referencing the enamelled ‘jewels’ developed at Sèvres. A box in the Wallace Collection, London, made by Blerzy at the same date, is similarly decorated with four paillon elements, one of which is highlighted in green.
4588.1-3MC676/ДПИ