A REGENCY GOLD PRESENTATION SNUFF-BOX SET WITH A MICROMOSAIC PLAQUE

BY ALEXANDER JAMES STRACHAN (FL. 1799-1850), MARKED, LONDON, 1815, THE MICROMOSAIC, ROME, CIRCA 1810

Details

A REGENCY GOLD PRESENTATION SNUFF-BOX SET WITH A MICROMOSAIC PLAQUE
BY ALEXANDER JAMES STRACHAN (FL. 1799-1850), MARKED, LONDON, 1815, THE MICROMOSAIC, ROME, CIRCA 1810
rectangular box with rounded corners, the cover boldly chased with raised acanthus leaves and scrolling foliage, the cover, centred with a circular micromosaic plaque depicting a mother hen with her chicks beside a bowl of water against a blue background and within a red, black and white tesserae border, the interior of the cover engraved 'The / Arch Duke John / of / Austria / To / G S / 9th March 1816'
2 3/8 in. (60 mm.) wide

Brought to you by

David McLachlan

dmclachlan@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2650

Lot Essay

Archduke John of Austria (1782-1859), a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, was the son of the Grand Duke of Tuscany Peter Leopold I (1747-1792), then Holy Roman Emperor as Leopold II (1790-1792). The subject is taken from a painting by the Bohemian-born animalist artist Johann Wenzel Peter (1745-1829), The Rooster and The Hen, now on display in the Vatican Museums. Alexander James Strachan supplied gold boxes to the royal goldsmiths Rundell, Bridge & Rundell and Wakelin & Garrard. He was referred to as the 'Paul Storr of gold boxes' by Arthur Grimwade (London Goldsmiths, 1697-1837: Their Marks and Lives, London, 1976, pp. 672-73).

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