CIRCA 1755-1760, THE MINIATURE BY CHRISTIAN FRIEDRICH ZINCKE (1683/1684-1767), CIRCA 1720

Details

A GEORGE II GOLD-LINED COMPOSITION SNUFF-BOX SET WITH A PORTRAIT MINIATURE
circa 1755-1760, the miniature by Christian Friedrich Zincke (1683/1684-1767), circa 1720
Oval black composition box, the cover centred by an oval enamel miniature depicting a young lady called the Duchess of Marlborough, facing left in open blue gown and white lace underslip, long curly brown hair, within a later gold frame with white enamel dots at the sides and rose-cut diamond studded pierced silver ribbon cresting echoed at the base by a matching foliate scroll, the rims of the lid chased with leaves and scrolls, the interior gold-lined, embossed foliate and scrolling gold thumbpiece, wavy flange
3 9/16 in. (90 mm.) high

Provenance

Beriah Botfield, Esq. (1807-1863), Norton Hall, Daventry, Northamptonshire, and by whom bequeathed to the Thynne family.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The identification of the sitter supplied by an old handwritten label inside the box is difficult to substantiate. Several other enamels by Zincke said to depict Sarah Jennings, Duchess of Marlborough (1660-1744) have recently been published but are as a group resemblance-wise incoherent. It may be excluded that the three Zinckes in the Gilbert Collection identified as Duchess of Marlborough depict the same sitter (S. Coffin/B. Hofstetter, The Gilbert Collection. Portrait Miniatures in Enamel, London, 2000, pp. 116-117, nos. 66-68). Comparison with the Zincke of 1711 in the Royal Collection is equally not conclusive ('Portrait Miniatures from the Collection of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II', Exhibition Catalogue, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1996/1997, et al., no. 46, pp. 138-139).

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