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Lot Essay
This gold snuff-box enamelled en plein is one of the earliest known of this type, alongside the double snuff-box also dated 1737 but with no legible maker's mark illustrated in K. Snowman, Eighteenth Century Gold Boxes of Europe, 1966, pl. 129. It also counts as one of the earliest recorded boxes made by Jean Ducrollay who registered two marks, for works in silver and gold, in 1734.
Gold boxes became popular with the rescinding of the sumptuary laws relating to gold in France in November 1721, which allowed goldsmiths to produce elaborately chased gold boxes. The first of these appears to have been made by Daniel Gouers with a box made for Karl Albrecht, the Elector of Bavaria (1697-1745) dated 1723, now held in the Munich Residenz. Such boxes made solely of gold were referred to as 'tabatières plaines' according to Diderot's Encyclopédie and were initially of a smaller size. By the 1730s, boxes became larger and were decorated with enamelled motifs such as the present lot, which required the intervention of an enameller, a profession not well documented. The enamelled flowers on such boxes were traditionally attributed to Joaguet and Aubert. Maze-Sensier in his Livre des Collectionneurs (p. 150) lists several enamellers alongside their style of decoration: Aubert, Bourgoing (Fables), Le Bel (love Fables, grisaille), Le Sueur (shepherds and hunts) and de Mailly (love fables en grisaille). Lazare Duvaux in his Livre-Journal also mentions 'Aubert' as having enamelled roses on a box for Madame de Pompadour in April 1754. Louis-Francois Aubert is again mentioned in the records of the Menus-Plaisirs for the enamelling of flowers (Maze-Sensier, op. cit, p. 154).
Very few boxes made in the first years of Ducrollay's career are recorded although the known ones are all gold chased with elaborate designs such as the one dated 1740 chased with Turqueries, sold from the Irene Roosevelt Aitken Collection, Christie's, New York, 13 February 2026, lot 506.
BIOGRAPHY
Jean Ducrollay was born in 1710 in Pontoise near Paris. His mother's brothers, Jean-François and Pierre Drais, were both goldsmiths, making Pierre-François Drais (1726-1792) his younger cousin. He was apprenticed to his mother's brother Jean Drais who sponsored him when he entered his mark in 1734. Ducrollay initially worked from the rue de Lamoignon, before relocating to the Place Dauphine by 1748. There he established a flourishing business with his younger brother Jean-Charles Ducrollay. The workshop was busy with apprentices and goldsmiths such as Louis Roucel and Pierre-François Drais, together with journeymen who worked and lived on the premises.
Ducrollay was appointed orfèvre-joaillier de la cour in 1755, and his name appears frequently in the registers of the Présents du Roi and the accounts of the Menus-Plaisirs du Roi. He also kept a prestigious clientele such as the prince de Condé who paid him a lifetime annuity. Documents also show that the Duc de Brissac owed him the sum of 4,147 livres and the Prince de Chimay 4,500 livres, substantial sums that show the success of his business. The business was sold in 1761 to Jean Marie Tiron de Nanteuil and although the Ducrollay brothers gave up their marks they continued as traders. Jean-Charles died in November 1766 and in 1777 Ducrollay retired. He died in 1787.
Gold boxes became popular with the rescinding of the sumptuary laws relating to gold in France in November 1721, which allowed goldsmiths to produce elaborately chased gold boxes. The first of these appears to have been made by Daniel Gouers with a box made for Karl Albrecht, the Elector of Bavaria (1697-1745) dated 1723, now held in the Munich Residenz. Such boxes made solely of gold were referred to as 'tabatières plaines' according to Diderot's Encyclopédie and were initially of a smaller size. By the 1730s, boxes became larger and were decorated with enamelled motifs such as the present lot, which required the intervention of an enameller, a profession not well documented. The enamelled flowers on such boxes were traditionally attributed to Joaguet and Aubert. Maze-Sensier in his Livre des Collectionneurs (p. 150) lists several enamellers alongside their style of decoration: Aubert, Bourgoing (Fables), Le Bel (love Fables, grisaille), Le Sueur (shepherds and hunts) and de Mailly (love fables en grisaille). Lazare Duvaux in his Livre-Journal also mentions 'Aubert' as having enamelled roses on a box for Madame de Pompadour in April 1754. Louis-Francois Aubert is again mentioned in the records of the Menus-Plaisirs for the enamelling of flowers (Maze-Sensier, op. cit, p. 154).
Very few boxes made in the first years of Ducrollay's career are recorded although the known ones are all gold chased with elaborate designs such as the one dated 1740 chased with Turqueries, sold from the Irene Roosevelt Aitken Collection, Christie's, New York, 13 February 2026, lot 506.
BIOGRAPHY
Jean Ducrollay was born in 1710 in Pontoise near Paris. His mother's brothers, Jean-François and Pierre Drais, were both goldsmiths, making Pierre-François Drais (1726-1792) his younger cousin. He was apprenticed to his mother's brother Jean Drais who sponsored him when he entered his mark in 1734. Ducrollay initially worked from the rue de Lamoignon, before relocating to the Place Dauphine by 1748. There he established a flourishing business with his younger brother Jean-Charles Ducrollay. The workshop was busy with apprentices and goldsmiths such as Louis Roucel and Pierre-François Drais, together with journeymen who worked and lived on the premises.
Ducrollay was appointed orfèvre-joaillier de la cour in 1755, and his name appears frequently in the registers of the Présents du Roi and the accounts of the Menus-Plaisirs du Roi. He also kept a prestigious clientele such as the prince de Condé who paid him a lifetime annuity. Documents also show that the Duc de Brissac owed him the sum of 4,147 livres and the Prince de Chimay 4,500 livres, substantial sums that show the success of his business. The business was sold in 1761 to Jean Marie Tiron de Nanteuil and although the Ducrollay brothers gave up their marks they continued as traders. Jean-Charles died in November 1766 and in 1777 Ducrollay retired. He died in 1787.