MARK OF JOSEPH-ETIENNE BLERZY, PARIS, 1782

Details

A LOUIS XVI JEWELED ENAMELED GOLD ETUI A TABLETTES
MARK OF JOSEPH-ETIENNE BLERZY, PARIS, 1782
Rectangular with panels of translucent blue enamel over wavy dotted guilloche ground within borders of opalescent beads and green foliage, one side mounted with a grisaille portrait head on paper of Stanislaus Auguste Poniatowski, King of Poland, in an oval of diamonds, the opposite with an enamel plaque of a maenad in an oval of pearls, with diamond thumbpiece, the cover with Souvenir and d'amitie' in diamonds, the interior fitted with a gold-capped pencil, marked on flange with date letter T, maker's mark, and charge and decharge
3 ¼ in. (8.3 cm.) high

Provenance

With A La Vieille Russie, Paris.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, New York, 16 April 1999, lot 11.
Acquired by Irene Roosevelt Aitken from the above.

Literature

A La Vieille Russie, The Art of the Goldsmith and Jeweler, New York, 1968, no. 104.

Exhibited

New York, A La Vieille Russie, The Art of the Goldsmith and Jeweler, 6-23 November 1968.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

Stanisław August Poniatowski (1732–1798) was the last King of Poland, ruling from 1764 to 1795. Backed by Catherine the Great, he became king during a period of intense foreign influence. A supporter of Enlightenment reforms, he modernized education, promoted the arts, and helped create the 3 May 1791 Constitution, Europe’s first modern constitution. Despite his efforts, internal opposition and pressure from Russia, Prussia, and Austria led to the Partitions of Poland. Forced to abdicate in 1795, he spent his final years in Russia, where he died in 1798.

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