BY LOUIS-ADRIEN BÉCASSE (FL. 1769-1793), MARKED, PARIS, 1771/1772, WITH THE CHARGE AND DISCHARGE MARKS OF JULIEN ALATERRE 1768-1774, LATER STRUCK WITH THE RESTRICTED WARRANTY MARKS FOR GOLD, PARIS 1798-1809

Details

A LOUIS XV GOLD-MOUNTED SHELL SNUFF-BOX
by Louis-Adrien Bécasse (fl. 1769-1793), marked, Paris, 1771/1772, with the charge and discharge marks of Julien Alaterre 1768-1774, later struck with the restricted warranty marks for gold, Paris 1798-1809
Irregularly cut tapering box made of the convex parts of one or two Oliva Porphyria shells, the outside with natural light brown zig-zag and chevrons creating a mountainous design, the rear of the base part with spiralling tail, the gold mounts and raised thumbpiece on the hinged lid engraved with a floral and a zig-zag border, the base mounts engraved with a fluted band twisted with a foliate garland
3¾ in. (94 mm.) wide

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

This box is an interesting testimony to the conchyliomania during the 18th century. The period of its manufacture coincides with the period of the trading in and collecting of shells, during the reign of King Louis XV. In 1736, the famous marchand-mercier E.-F. Gersaint published a sale catalogue of a collection of shells he had acquired in the Netherlands. Other Oliva Porphyria boxes are illustrated in A. K. Snowman, Eighteenth Century Gold Boxes of Europe, Woodbridge, 1990, plates 347 and 446. Recently sold similar snuff-boxes include one auctioned at the Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 14 December 2000, lot 235, one sold Christie's, London, 27 November 1991, lot 1, and one from the Dreesmann Collection, sold Christie's, London, 11 April 2002, lot 920. Another specimen, of 1774, was in the collection of the British Rail Pension Fund, sold Sotheby's, Geneva, 15 May 1990, lot 35.

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