A RESTORATION GOLD-LINED TORTOISESHELL SNUFF-BOX SET WITH A GOLD MEDAL

Details
A RESTORATION GOLD-LINED TORTOISESHELL SNUFF-BOX SET WITH A GOLD MEDAL
by Veuve Leferre, Paris, 1819-1838, the flange engraved "Vachette à Paris", the gold medal signed by Bertrand Andrieu

Rectangular box of black tortoiseshell, the lid centered by a double-sided gold medal depicting the profile of the King of Rome outside and the jugate profiles of Emperor Napoléon I and his second wife Marie-Louise inside, within a glazed medallion surrounded by a chased laurel wreath bordered by a blue enamel band - 85 mm wide, damaged.

Lot Essay

A very similar box, by Vachette, having also belonged to Cambacérès and depicting the profiles of Napoléon and Marie-Louise on the outside, was sold Sotheby's Geneva, 14 November 1985, lot 408.
Marie-Françoise Desmarais, called Veuve Leferre, was the widow of the goldsmith Jean-Louis Leferre (see lot 96) and seems to have been in activity at least between 1806 and 1850. It is probable that Vachette put his signature on the flange as a retailer.
Three boxes by Veuve Leferre are to be found in the Louvre.

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