BY PIERRE-ETIENNE THEREMIN (FL. 1793-1801), MARKED, ST. PETERSBURG 1800, WITH THE ASSAY MARK OF ALEKSANDER ILYICH YASHINOV 1795-1826

Details

A RARE RUSSIAN ENAMELLED GOLD SNUFF-BOX
by Pierre-Etienne Theremin (fl. 1793-1801), marked, St. Petersburg 1800, with the assay mark of Aleksander Ilyich Yashinov 1795-1826
Octagonal gold box, the cover, four sides and base enamelled in translucent royal blue on a guilloché coin pattern moiré ground, the lid centred by an allegory of Peace bringing bringing back Abundance, within a gold paillon border, the broad polished gold borders decorated with opaque white strapwork enclosing blue taille d'épargne leaves and matted gold reserves, the corners with translucent blue enamelled leaves on reeded rectangles within white enamel borders, bright-cut gold rims
3½ in. (90 mm.) wide

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium

Further details

END OF OBJECTS OF VERTU AND GOLD BOXES SECTION

Lot Essay

Serge Grandjean (Les tabatières du musée du Louvre, Paris, 1981, no. 526) lists another box, of 1799, by P. Theremin in the Hermitage and one in the Louvre.
The enamel on the lid is after an inverse print of Elisabeth-Louise Vigée-Lebrun's oil painting 'La paix ramenant l'Abondance' of 1780, which was her entry piece to the Académie Royale. It was displayed at the Paris Salon after her admittance in 1783. Pierre Theremin re-used this scene for the decoration of another Russian box in the Geneva style, also dated 1800 (illustrated in A. von Solodkoff, Russian Gold and Silverwork, Fribourg, 1981, p. 153, fig. 200).

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