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Lot Essay
Jean-Marie Tiron known as Tiron de Nanteuil (fl. 1748-1773) was an accomplished goldsmith whose skills were acquired from his family of gold box makers but also from his partnership with the Ducrollays between 1761 and 1765.
This snuff-box, made a year after the end of his partnership with the Ducrollays also demonstrates that Tiron was ahead of his time in the design of this box. The design appears to be after one in an album of designs, formerly the property of D. David-Weill (Sotheby's, London, 14 November 1984, lots 189-229) dated circa 1760. The drawing is unfortunately unsigned but is comparable to those of Pierre-Philippe Choffard (1730-1809) dated 1759 now in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (E.897:30-1988). Choffard's designs were used, amongst others, by Jean Ducrollay, whose name appears on the first page of the album suggesting that these designs came from his workshop. It seems therefore logical to say that Tiron who worked in partnership with Ducrollay had access to these designs which he used for this snuff-box.
This imposing box is certainly one of Tiron's earliest known boxes in that distinctive neoclassical style which pre-dates the snuff-box dated 1767 of the same form and with the same lapis-lazuli ground set with enamelled scenes by Jean Coteau in the Wallace Collection (G45) illustrated in C. Truman, The Wallace Collection: Catalogue of Gold Boxes, London, 2013, p. 170, no. 40.
Pierre-Philippe Choffard (1730-1809) was the leading French engraver and book-ornament designer of the late eighteenth century. Renowned for his exquisitely inventive vignettes, headpieces and tailpieces, he provided illustrations for many of the most luxurious French publications of the Ancien Régime and remains one of the foremost masters of eighteenth-century book illustration.
For a biography of Tiron de Nanteuil, see lot 28.
This snuff-box, made a year after the end of his partnership with the Ducrollays also demonstrates that Tiron was ahead of his time in the design of this box. The design appears to be after one in an album of designs, formerly the property of D. David-Weill (Sotheby's, London, 14 November 1984, lots 189-229) dated circa 1760. The drawing is unfortunately unsigned but is comparable to those of Pierre-Philippe Choffard (1730-1809) dated 1759 now in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (E.897:30-1988). Choffard's designs were used, amongst others, by Jean Ducrollay, whose name appears on the first page of the album suggesting that these designs came from his workshop. It seems therefore logical to say that Tiron who worked in partnership with Ducrollay had access to these designs which he used for this snuff-box.
This imposing box is certainly one of Tiron's earliest known boxes in that distinctive neoclassical style which pre-dates the snuff-box dated 1767 of the same form and with the same lapis-lazuli ground set with enamelled scenes by Jean Coteau in the Wallace Collection (G45) illustrated in C. Truman, The Wallace Collection: Catalogue of Gold Boxes, London, 2013, p. 170, no. 40.
Pierre-Philippe Choffard (1730-1809) was the leading French engraver and book-ornament designer of the late eighteenth century. Renowned for his exquisitely inventive vignettes, headpieces and tailpieces, he provided illustrations for many of the most luxurious French publications of the Ancien Régime and remains one of the foremost masters of eighteenth-century book illustration.
For a biography of Tiron de Nanteuil, see lot 28.