MARK OF ADRIEN-JEAN-MAXIMILIEN VACHETTE, PARIS, 1809-1819

Details

A FRENCH GOLD AND ENAMEL SNUFF BOX
Mark of Adrien-Jean-Maximilien Vachette, Paris, 1809-1819
The rectangular body enamelled en camieu rose with putti against an engine-turned mesh ground, with reeded rims and fluted pilasters, marked inside base, cover and side, the bezel marked with later French control marks, also with 20-karat standard mark used after 1793
3in. (76mm.) long

Provenance

Ortiz-Patiño Collection, sold Christie's, London, June 26, 1974, lot 5
Christie's, London, November 28, 1984, lot 233

Literature

Kenneth A. Snowman, Eighteenth Century Gold Boxes of Paris: A Catalogue of the J. Ortiz-Patiño Collection, 1974, no. 64, p. 138-39
The Glory of the Goldsmith: Magnificent Gold and Silver From the Al-Tajir Collection, 1989, no. 186, p. 236

Exhibited

"The Glory of the Goldsmith: Magnificent Gold and Silver from the Al-Tajir Collection," Christie's, London, 1989, no. 186

Lot Essay

The mark of a boy's head with the numeral 2 is believed to be a standard mark for 20k gold, in use soon after the Revolution, circa 1793, and for some time thereafter. For a discussion of this mark, see: A. Somers Cocks & C. Truman, The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection: Renaissance Jewels, Gold Boxes and Objects de Vertu, 1984, no. 81, p. 242-44.

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