BY ADRIEN-JEAN-MAXIMILIEN VACHETTE (FL. 1779-1839), MARKED, PARIS, CIRCA 1800, THE FLANGE ENGRAVED 'VACHETTE A PARIS', STRUCK WITH THE POST-REVOLUTIONARY UNOFFICIAL STANDARD MARK FOR 18 CARAT GOLD, THE MINIATURES ATTRIBUTED TO JACQUES-JOSEPH DE GAULT (1738-1817)

Jacques-Joseph de Gault specialised in painting scenes which emulated the Neoclassical fashion for hardstone cameos. De Gault's style developed through his work as a porcelain painter at the Sèvres factory from 1758 to 1760, and by 1777 he was exhibiting paintings imitating cameos at the Académie de Saint-Luc. Miniatures signed by and attributed to De Gault feature on other boxes made by such notable Parisian goldsmiths as Jean Ducrollay (fl. 1734-1761), Charles Ouizille (fl. 1771-1830) and Adrien-Jean-Maximilien Vachette (fl. 1779-1839). The artist's most impressive commission was perhaps that of the jewel cabinet at Versailles for Queen Marie-Antoinette, partly illustrated in C. Jeannerat, 'De Gault et Gault de Saint-Germain', Bulletin de la Société de l'histoire de l'art français, 1835, opp. p. 224.