A GERMAN JEWELLED ENAMELLED GOLD SNUFF-BOX SET WITH A PORTRAIT MINIATURE

BY LES FRERES TOUSSAINT, HANAU, CIRCA 1790/1800, WITH PRESTIGE MARKS, THE MINIATURE ATTRIBUTED TO THE SEAMAN BROTHERS, CIRCA 1740

Details

A GERMAN JEWELLED ENAMELLED GOLD SNUFF-BOX SET WITH A PORTRAIT MINIATURE
BY LES FRERES TOUSSAINT, HANAU, CIRCA 1790/1800, WITH PRESTIGE MARKS, THE MINIATURE ATTRIBUTED TO THE SEAMAN BROTHERS, CIRCA 1740
oval box, the cover, sides and base with panels of translucent dark blue enamel on a wavy reeded engine-turned ground, with borders and garlands of rich gold paillon fruiting vines, within opaque white enamel taille d'épargne borders, the cover centred by an earlier oval portrait miniature of a gentleman in gold-bordered breast plate with red lining, blue velvet coat, lace cravat, long powdered curling hair, within a diamond-set openwork scroll frame, the base centred with gold paillon floral spray
3 3/8 in. (85 mm.) wide

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Lot Essay

It has been suggested that the maker's mark 'LFT' probably corresponds to 'Les Frères Toussaint' in Hanau (L. Seelig, Golddosen des 18. Jahrhunderts aus dem Besitz der Fürsten von Thurn und Taxis, Munich, 2007, pp. 186-7). On the basis of this research, a miniature-set enamelled gold bonbonnière marked 'LFT' in the Wallace Collection, formerly attributed to 19th Century Swiss manufacture, is now believed to have been crafted in Hanau during the second half of the 18th Century (C. Truman, 'Some German Gold Boxes in the Wallace Collection', The British Antique Dealers' Association Annual Handbook 2009/2010, London, 2009, p. 11).

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