BY PIERRE-FRANÇOIS DRAIS (FL. 1763-1788), MARKED, PARIS, 1778-1779, WITH THE CHARGE AND DECHARGE MARKS OF JEAN BAPTISTE FOUACHE 1774-1780

Details

A LOUIS XVI JEWELLED ENAMELLED GOLD SNUFF-BOX
BY PIERRE-FRANÇOIS DRAIS (FL. 1763-1788), MARKED, PARIS, 1778-1779, WITH THE CHARGE AND DECHARGE MARKS OF JEAN BAPTISTE FOUACHE 1774-1780
oval box, the cover, sides and base set with panels of opalescent enamel painted en camaïeu with winter branches on an oyster-pink ground, within chased gold frames, the cover centred with an oval grisaille miniature on a red hardstone ground depicting Silenus, the slightly raised borders chased with translucent green enamel foliage and set at intervals with seed pearls on a sablé ground, the side pilasters similarly decorated
2.7/8 in. (73 mm.) wide

Provenance

Sotheby's, Geneva, 16 May 1991, lot 112.

Exhibited

Vienna, Österreichisches Tabakmuseum, Die lasterhafte Panazee. 500 Jahre Tabakkultur in Europa, 1992, no. II/41, illustrated p. 97.

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Lot Essay

Pierre-François Drais (1726-1788) was a pupil of one of his Ducrollay cousins, who was a Parisian master goldsmith. He struck his mark in 1763 and was soon employed by the service of the Menus Plaisirs du Roi. Thus he was commissioned for the famous gold box made for the marriage of the Comte d'Artois to Princess Marie-Thérèse of Savoy. As a result, Drais became bijoutier du Roi and had among his clients Madame du Barry and, later, King Louis XVI of France.

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