BY PAUL GERHARD ZACHOUN (FL. 1753-1784), MARKED, STOCKHOLM, 1764

Another Swedish snuff-box by Andreas Almgren, Stockholm, 1759, with very similar chasing and basse taille enamel decoration is in the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, LOAN:GILBERT.329-2008. The use of basse taille enamels appears to have been popular in Stockholm during this period. Other examples of gold boxes which utilise the technique include boxes by Frantz Bergs, goldsmith to the King, Frederick Fabritius and Anders Zachoun. The process involves chasing or engraving metal in low relief and then applying translucent enamels to the design to produce a richness and subtlety of tones. Gold boxes made in Stockholm in the eighteenth century were particularly susceptible to the strong influence emanating from the goldsmiths of Paris. The high quality of their execution, the equal of many French boxes, show that the goldsmiths working in Sweden were clearly outstandingly skilled craftsmen.