A Swiss enamelled gold Snuff-Box

MAKER'S MARK INITIALS GG, GENEVA, CIRCA 1800

Details

A Swiss enamelled gold Snuff-Box
maker's mark initials GG, Geneva, circa 1800
Rectangular box with canted corners, the cover, four side panels and base enamelled in celadon green and centred by white reserves of rectangular shape with cut corners, the lid painted with Hector's farewell to Andromache, the sides with pastoral animal scenes, the lid and base bordered by bands of translucent blue enamel adorned with blue, green and gold paillons and white scrolls, the four side corners enamelled in celadon green and engraved with gold urn motifs
95 mm. (3¾ in.) wide

Provenance

Alfred Sussmann Collection; (+) Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 18 and 19 May 1922, lot 91 (3,100 French Francs to Jorge Bera).

Lot Essay

The scene on the cover is taken after Homer's Iliad (6:394-496). Hector, the son of Priam King of Troy, was commander of the Trojan armies and, moreover, a devoted husband and father. On the eve of battle, the ill-fated hero said farewell at the gates of Troy to his wife and his infant son Astyanax.

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