Lot Essay
A preparatory sketch for a gold box with very similar cover decoration is illustrated in A.K. Snowman, Eighteenth-century Gold Boxes of Europe, London, 1966, pl. 64.
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THE PROPERTY OF A EUROPEAN PRIVATE COLLECTOR
AN IMPORTANT LOUIS XV VARI-COLOUR GOLD SNUFF-BOX
BY JEAN FORMEY (FL. 1754-1791), MARKED, PARIS, 1754/1755, WITH THE CHARGE AND DECHARGE MARKS OF JULIEN BERTHE 1750-1756
Details
AN IMPORTANT LOUIS XV VARI-COLOUR GOLD SNUFF-BOX
BY JEAN FORMEY (FL. 1754-1791), MARKED, PARIS, 1754/1755, WITH THE CHARGE AND DECHARGE MARKS OF JULIEN BERTHE 1750-1756
rectangular box of polished gold, the cover, sides and base finely engraved and chased in four-colour gold within reeded scroll surrounds, the cover and base decorated with scenes in the manner of David Teniers the Younger, on the cover two gentlemen seated at a table and playing cards in front of city gates, watched by a friend and an innkeeper with a jug of ale in one hand and a glass in the other, the base presenting a country scene in front of a church showing two peasants seated and smoking pipes, one helping himself from a barrel of ale with a ladle, a third man standing beside them with a glass and a jug; three sides with rural landscapes of streams, bridges and dwellings, the fourth side with a dog sleeping in front of the ale barrel after the peasants have left, the flange engraved with the initials DBDQ
2 7/8 in. (72 mm.) wide
5.7 oz. (176 gr.)
BY JEAN FORMEY (FL. 1754-1791), MARKED, PARIS, 1754/1755, WITH THE CHARGE AND DECHARGE MARKS OF JULIEN BERTHE 1750-1756
rectangular box of polished gold, the cover, sides and base finely engraved and chased in four-colour gold within reeded scroll surrounds, the cover and base decorated with scenes in the manner of David Teniers the Younger, on the cover two gentlemen seated at a table and playing cards in front of city gates, watched by a friend and an innkeeper with a jug of ale in one hand and a glass in the other, the base presenting a country scene in front of a church showing two peasants seated and smoking pipes, one helping himself from a barrel of ale with a ladle, a third man standing beside them with a glass and a jug; three sides with rural landscapes of streams, bridges and dwellings, the fourth side with a dog sleeping in front of the ale barrel after the peasants have left, the flange engraved with the initials DBDQ
2 7/8 in. (72 mm.) wide
5.7 oz. (176 gr.)
Provenance
A note inside the box states: 'This box was given by the Community of Rennes to Jean-Baptiste-François-Joseph De Bois De Québriac, Sieur de Haut-Breuil and owner of the castle of Québriac (b. Rennes 1730, d. after 1817), Doyen and Physician of the Parliament of Brittany in 1768, for his devotion during an epidemic in Rennes.'
Christie's, Geneva, 19 May 1992, lot 113.
Christie's, Geneva, 19 May 1992, lot 113.
Brought to you by
Matilda Burn
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