BY PHILIPPE-EMMANUEL GARBE (FL. 1748-1793), MARKED, PARIS, 1761/1762, WITH THE CHARGE MARK OF ELOY BRICHARD 1756-1762 AND THE DISCHARGE MARK OF JEAN-JACQUES PREVOST 1762-1768

Details

A LOUIS XV GOLD-MOUNTED SHELL SNUFF-BOX
by Philippe-Emmanuel Garbe (fl. 1748-1793), marked, Paris, 1761/1762, with the charge mark of Eloy Brichard 1756-1762 and the discharge mark of Jean-Jacques Prevost 1762-1768
Irregular tapering box of aubergine-shape, made of the convex parts of one or two Oliva Porphyria shells, the outside with natural light brown zig-zag and chevrons creating a mountainous design, the rear of the base part with spiralling tail, the polished gold mounts and raised thumbpiece on the hinged lid engraved with foliage
3 15/16 in. (100 mm.) wide

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

This box is an interesting testimony to the conchyliomania during the 18th century. The period of its manufacture coincides with the period of the trading in and collecting of shells during the reign of King Louis XV. Other Oliva Porphyria boxes are illustrated in A. K. Snowman, Eighteenth Century Gold Boxes of Europe, Woodbridge, 1990, plates 347 and 446. Recently sold similar snuff-boxes include one auctioned at the Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 14 December 2000, lot 235, one sold Christie's, London, 27 November 1991, lot 1, one from the Dreesmann Collection, sold Christie's, London, 11 April 2002, lot 920, and one sold Christie's, London, 25 May 2004, lot 10. Another specimen, of 1774, was in the collection of the British Rail Pension Fund, sold Sotheby's, Geneva, 15 May 1990, lot 35.
(ALSO ILLUSTRATED ON CATALOGUE FRONT COVER)

More from Important Portrait Miniatures and Objects of Vertu

View All