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Lot Essay
This casket represents an interesting example of the antiquarian taste which developed in the later 18th and 19th centuries. Here one has three plaquettes of the 16th century which have been mounted in a framework of the early 19th, probably by the distinguished collector, the Baron Boissel de Monville, whose collector's mark is to be seen on the front edge of the lid.
The plaquettes are from a series of Triumphs which have been called both Netherlandish and Italian (for a discussion of the attribution, see Toderi, loc. cit.), although the present examples are almost without question the latter. Interestingly, the plaquette used to form the lid, which is of markedly superior quality to the other two, appears to be unknown in any other example. The iconography of each is complex, and disputed. It would appear that they represent: on the front, The Triumph of the Seasons, on the lid, The Triumph of the Seven Virtues and, on the reverse, The Triumph of Good Government.
The plaquettes are from a series of Triumphs which have been called both Netherlandish and Italian (for a discussion of the attribution, see Toderi, loc. cit.), although the present examples are almost without question the latter. Interestingly, the plaquette used to form the lid, which is of markedly superior quality to the other two, appears to be unknown in any other example. The iconography of each is complex, and disputed. It would appear that they represent: on the front, The Triumph of the Seasons, on the lid, The Triumph of the Seven Virtues and, on the reverse, The Triumph of Good Government.