BY CHARLES RAWLINGS AND WILLIAM SUMMERS (FL. 1826-1850), MARKED WITH THE ENGLISH POST-1798 STANDARD MARK FOR 18 CARAT GOLD, THE ENGLISH STANDARD MARK FOR GOLD 1798-1974, THE LONDON ASSAY OFFICE MARK FOR 1826-1896, THE LONDON DATE LETTER 1840/1841 AND THE ENGLISH DUTY MARK FOR GOLD 1840-1890, THE MICROMOSAIC BY GIOACCHINO BARBERI (1783-1857), SIGNED, ROME, CIRCA 1810

Gioacchino Barberi (1783-1857) who worked in Rome at 99 Piazza de Spagna, near the Spanish steps, was recorded in 1847 by G. Moroni (Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica, Venice, 1847, XLVII, pp. 79-80) as one of the leading artists of miniature micromosaics. His father Paolo Emilio, was a painter and his uncle, Cavaliere Michelangelo, was another famous micromosaic artist. Gioacchino is credited with the use of black enamel smalti which he used for backgrounds, a device taken from wall paintings at Herculaneum.
An enamelled gold snuff-box by Jean-François Bautte & Co. set with a signed micromosaic by Barberi depicting a pair of small Spitz in lion clip on a leopard skin was sold Christie's, London, 22 May 2001, lot 250.
A gold snuff-box by Moulinié, Bautte et Moynier set with a signed micromosaic by Barberi and depicting a spaniel lying with two dead pigeons at its side, within a landscape was sold at Christie's, London, 6 December 2005, lot 26.
A further example, a vari-coloured gold bonbonnière by Alexander James Strachan set with a signed micromosaic by Barberi of a dog and a cat fighting in a landscape is in The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection now at the Victoria and Albert Museum, see C. Truman, The Gilbert Collection of Gold Boxes, Volume I., Los Angeles, 1991, pp. 328-329.