A FINE LOUIS XVI GOLD BOX SET WITH CAMEOS AND MOSS AGATE PANELS

Details

A FINE LOUIS XVI GOLD BOX SET WITH CAMEOS AND MOSS AGATE PANELS
by Pierre-François Drais, Paris 1774/1775, with the charge of Julien Alaterre and the discharge of Jean-Baptiste Fouache; the flange engraved "Drais a Paris"

Rectangular box with canted corners, the lid with a secret mechanism released by a small button in the center of the rim which allows the hinged mount to be lifted and to remove the tortoiseshell panel containing three cameos, the one of the left hand side depicting Leda and the Swan, signed XAVERIA D.S, the one in the centre signed in Greek letters "PICHLER", the third one unsigned; the tortoiseshell panels on the sides and on the base inset with oval plaques of moss-agate; the sides divided by 8 pilasters of Ionian columns; the sides of the cover chased with foliage in two-coloured gold, the borders of cover and base with acanthus and ovolos -- 89 mm wide

Lot Essay

Another box by Drais with a similar secret mechanism is illustrated in Serge Grandjean et alii, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor - Gold Boxes, Fribourg 1975, p. 184-186, nr 89.
The cameo signed PICHLER is probably by Giovanni (Johann-Anton the Younger) Pichler (Naples 1734-1791 Rome), who is considered as the most talented of the 6 members of this family of gem-carvers originally from Tyrol.

More from Objects of Vertu

View All