BY JOHANN FRIEDRICH BÜTTNER (FL. 1746-1768), MARKED, STRASBOURG, 1754/1755, WITH THE PARTLY ERASED STRASBOURG 'RECONNAISSANCE' FOR THE PARIS GOLD CARATAGE OF 18.6, LATER STRUCK WITH TWO PARISIAN POST-1838 RESTRICTED WARRANTY MARKS FOR GOLD

Details

A LOUIS XV GOLD SNUFF-BOX
by Johann Friedrich Büttner (fl. 1746-1768), marked, Strasbourg, 1754/1755, with the partly erased Strasbourg 'reconnaissance' for the Paris gold caratage of 18.6, later struck with two Parisian post-1838 restricted warranty marks for gold
Rectangular box, the panels on cover, four sides and base boldly chased and engraved with architectural caprices behind islands and tendrils of windswept leafy vegetation, on off-centre radiating sunburst motifs, plain rims
3 3/16 in. (82 mm.) wide
6 oz. (182 gr.)

Provenance

Barbara Woolworth Hutton.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, Zurich, 23-24 November 1978, lot 40.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, Geneva, 13 November 1984, lot 32.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, Geneva, 16 May 1995, lot 81.
With Sapjo, Monte-Carlo, 1997, acquired by
Dr Anton C. R. Dreesmann (inventory no. F-217).

Literature

J. Helft, Le poinçon des provinces françaises, Paris, 1968, p. 603, illustrated pl. LXIX A.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Snuff-boxes by King Stanislas Leszczynski's court goldsmith Johann Friedrich Büttner (also spelled Jean-Frédéric Bittner) are extremely rare. The half-a-dozen known examples include an oval one, dated 1768, sold Christie's, London, 21 June 1999, lot 239 and another one sold Christie's, London, 11 December 1953; two ingot shaped boxes, of 1767 and 1768, were in a sale at Sotheby's, Geneva, 6 May 1981, lots 66 and 67. A rectangular one of 1762-1763 sold for SF280,000 at Christie's, Geneva, 15 November 1988 (lot 237). An oval one, of 1767, is in the Musée de l'Horlogerie et de l'Emaillerie, Geneva, illustrated in M. Gauthey, Catalogue des tabatières et étuis de la donation Xavier Givaudan, Geneva, 1969, pp. 150-151.

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