A GERMAN THREE-COLOR GOLD SNUFF-BOX
A GERMAN THREE-COLOR GOLD SNUFF-BOX
A GERMAN THREE-COLOR GOLD SNUFF-BOX
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A GERMAN THREE-COLOR GOLD SNUFF-BOX

PROBABLY BY LES FRÈRES TOUSSAINT (FL. 1752-1803), MARKED, HANAU, CIRCA 1760'S

Details
A GERMAN THREE-COLOR GOLD SNUFF-BOX
PROBABLY BY LES FRÈRES TOUSSAINT (FL. 1752-1803), MARKED, HANAU, CIRCA 1760'S
Rectangular, the cover with a scene of a family in architectural landscape defined by foliate ribbon within a polished gold frame and a frieze of Greek keys with rosette at each corner, the fluted side panels applied with vine tendrils held by putti and winged nymphs and flanked by pilaster headed by putto mask, within Greek key frieze, the underside with two lovers within a ribbon frame on polished ground, within a sablé border applied with flower garlands, marked inside the cover, body and side and on flange, further stamped with number 5 and later French control mark
3 3⁄8 in. (83 mm.) long
8 oz. 12 dwt. (269 gr.)
Provenance
The Collection of the Rothschild family.
By descent to the present owners.

Lot Essay

The quality and fine chasing of this box suggests that it is the work of Charles (1720-1790) and his brother Pierre-Etienne Toussaint (1726-1806), Berlin bijoutiers of Huguenot descent who arrived in Hanau in 1752. They quickly rose to prominence so that by 1762 they had a large workshop and were employing several German craftsmen, chasers and engravers.
Their boxes are generally marked with initials LDF alongside a mark resembling the Paris charge and décharge of 1768-1774 and the date-letter K for 1773-74. However, the marks on this box are those for the charge and décharge of 1756-1762 suggesting that the box was made in the 1760s. These marks are also recorded on two stylistically identical snuff-boxes held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc. no.48.187.422 and 48.187.471) and are discussed by L. Seelig in Eighteenth Century Hanau gold boxes, Silver Society of Canada Journal, 2015, vol. 18, p.36.

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