BY JOHANN CHRISTIAN NEUBER, DRESDEN, CIRCA 1775-1780

PRESENTATION SNUFF-BOXES

Snuff-boxes adorned with a portrait stem from the tradition of boîte à portrait in use since the Renaissance in Europe. Set with the portrait of a prince or a king, they were presented as diplomatic gifts. Besides these royal gifts, boxes could also be set with miniatures of family members which could be replaced over time with more relevant miniatures as the box changed owner, or even later on with miniatures chosen for their beauty or their importance such as for this box.
The miniature on this box is identical to one held in the Louvre attributed to Jean Petitot and described as possibly being the portrait of Anne Lenclos known as Ninon de Lenclos (1620-1705), a French author and courtesan. The miniature was in the collection of the renowned numismatist Abraham Michelet d’Ennery and was part of a group of fifty-one enamel miniatures, acquired in 1786 by Louis XVI. Petitot’s miniatures remained very sought after in the late 18th and early 19th century and were even copied such as our miniature and set on snuff-boxes to enhance their attraction.

AN ENAMEL PORTRAIT MINIATURE AFTER SIR ANTHONY VAN DYCK

Jean Petitot was a Swiss painter who popularised enamel miniature portraits invented by his master Henri Toutin (1578-1644). After his apprenticeship in Paris, Petitot went on to travel to England where he was patronised by Charles I and his court. All surviving examples from this period are copies of portraits by the court painter Sir Anthony Van Dyck (1599-1641). The lady painted in this miniature bears in fact a strong resemblance to Van Dyck’s portrait of his mistress, Margaret Lemon painted in 1638 with the same flower headpiece and her hand delicately holding the fabric of her dress. Margaret Lemon was the most painted commoner of the 17th century and her portrait by Van Dyck proved so popular that it was the source of many imitations made as late as the 1840s when this miniature was made.

THE SAXON MASTER OF HARDSTONE BOXES

Johann Christian Neuber is one of the most important masters of the Neoclassical hardstone-inlaid pieces which proved a success in his lifetime with the European enlightened aristocracy and royalty.
After an apprenticeship with Johann Friedrich Trechaon, a goldsmith of Swedish origin, Neuber became a master goldsmith and burgher of Dresden in 1762. Five years later he was named a court artisan to Friedrich Augustus III (1750-1827), Elector of Saxony and appointed the Elector's court jeweller before 1775. Taught about hardstones by Heinrich Taddel, his father-in-law and the director of the Grünes Gewölbe whom he succeeded in 1769, Neuber saw the artistic and commercial potential of using the many native stones of Saxony in his work. He developed the technique known as Zellenmosaic [cloisonné mosaic] at a time when mineralogy became popular. He advertised a wide range of small objects made from inlaid hardstones called Galantariewaren [useful but precious objects] including boxes, cane handles, watch cases, chatelaines, and jewellery which accounted for the majority of his production. His distinctive style was eventually counter-productive with a novelty-seeking public and by the end of the 1780s, his over-extended enterprise started to suffer severe financial problems, eventually forcing him to retire in 1805 in Eibenstock in his son’s house where he died on 2nd April 1808.