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Lot Essay
This delicately enamelled snuff-box is part of a small group of boxes made in Paris in the 1740s and early 1750s entirely decorated with flowers arranged symmetrically. Whilst earlier models dating from the late 1730s and early 1740s showed a scattered composition with raised enameling en plein in which the gold still dominates the composition, later models such as this box place greater emphasis on enamelling.
AFTER A 1750 DESIGN
The production of a gold box required the intervention of various craftsmen, from the goldsmith to the chaser and the enameller. However, the profession of enameller is not well documented as it was not regimented by a guild making it difficult to identify them by name. Enamellers active in Paris during the eighteenth century who can be identified therefore fall into three broad categories: those who were originally goldsmiths, such as Louis-François Aubert and Herbert-Louis Cheval de Saint-Hubert; those who worked primarily as porcelain painters at Sèvres and supplemented their income by undertaking commissions for goldsmiths, among them the best known being Joseph Coteau and Philippe Parpette; and finally those who signed their work such as Le Sueur.
Charles Truman conducted an in-depth study of raised enamels popular on gold boxes in Paris in the 1740s and 1750s and in particular raised painted naturalistic flowers with basse-taille leaves. Indeed, flowers were a favourite, if not the most popular motif in the decorative arts during the reign of Louis XV. An album of designs, formerly the property of D. David-Weill, was sold at Sotheby's in Geneva, 14 November 1984; this album comprised drawings for boxes such as this, helping us to understand the creative process of the enamellers and their sources of inspiration. Lot 219 in the sale of this album of drawings included two designs that are reminiscent of the present box, with diagonal wavy or straight bands sprinkled with flowers alternating with pink roses and yellow tulips. Two boxes have comparable designs to the present box: one illustrated in A. Somers Cocks and Charles Truman's catalogue of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, pp. 174-5, no. 47, is dated 1747 with an illegible maker's mark and has a comparable diaper design, though the general bombé shape of the box is more akin to earlier boxes. The second one, sold at Christie's, Geneva, 14 May 1985 and illustrated in A. K. Snowman's 1990 catalogue of 18th Century Gold Boxes of Europe, p. 129, no. 246, is dated 1750-52 with an illegible maker's mark; this example is identical in shape to the Blaquier-Arrieta box and is decorated with a zig-zag pattern that conveys a very modern aesthetic.
AUBERT: A SPECIALIST OF FLOWERS
The enamelling of the present snuff-box displays characteristics traditionally associated with the work of Louis-François Aubert (fl. 1748-1755). Aubert's style was clearly recognised by his contemporaries, yet only an enamelled portrait is known to bear his signature, sold at Christie's, London, 28 November 2012, lot 300.
In his Dictionnaire des Miniaturistes en Émail, Henri Clouzot also refers to Louis-François Aubert, described as peintre en émail du roi 'enamel painter to the King', who specialised in enamel decoration in relief. The inventory of his workshop taken after his death in 1755 records boxes of every size. The accounts of the Menus Plaisirs mention at least two boxes by Aubert. One 'emaillée par Aubert, à fleurs de relief fond mat à mosaique et bordure d'or polie' was supplied by Jean Ducrollay in 1751, and another 'emaillée à fleurs peintes par Aubert' was delivered by La Hoguette two years later. The Marchand-Mercier Lazare Duvaux sold Mme de Pompadour a piqué box with gold mounts 'emaillé de rose par Aubert' in April 1754. and the Marquise possessed two further examples of his work at her death in 1764. One box is described as simply enamelled by Aubert, but the other is 'emaillée à fleur en relief par Aubert', see A. Maze-Sencier, Le Livre des collectionneurs, Paris, 1885, pp. 153-154. According to Somers Cocks and Truman, no other enameller is credited with painting flowers in relief in the mid-eighteenth century, suggesting that boxes decorated in this manner and dating from 9 January 1748, when Aubert attained the maîtrise, until 20 October 1755, when he died, may be from Louis-François Aubert's workshop (see Somers Cocks and Truman, 1984, p. 175).
AFTER A 1750 DESIGN
The production of a gold box required the intervention of various craftsmen, from the goldsmith to the chaser and the enameller. However, the profession of enameller is not well documented as it was not regimented by a guild making it difficult to identify them by name. Enamellers active in Paris during the eighteenth century who can be identified therefore fall into three broad categories: those who were originally goldsmiths, such as Louis-François Aubert and Herbert-Louis Cheval de Saint-Hubert; those who worked primarily as porcelain painters at Sèvres and supplemented their income by undertaking commissions for goldsmiths, among them the best known being Joseph Coteau and Philippe Parpette; and finally those who signed their work such as Le Sueur.
Charles Truman conducted an in-depth study of raised enamels popular on gold boxes in Paris in the 1740s and 1750s and in particular raised painted naturalistic flowers with basse-taille leaves. Indeed, flowers were a favourite, if not the most popular motif in the decorative arts during the reign of Louis XV. An album of designs, formerly the property of D. David-Weill, was sold at Sotheby's in Geneva, 14 November 1984; this album comprised drawings for boxes such as this, helping us to understand the creative process of the enamellers and their sources of inspiration. Lot 219 in the sale of this album of drawings included two designs that are reminiscent of the present box, with diagonal wavy or straight bands sprinkled with flowers alternating with pink roses and yellow tulips. Two boxes have comparable designs to the present box: one illustrated in A. Somers Cocks and Charles Truman's catalogue of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, pp. 174-5, no. 47, is dated 1747 with an illegible maker's mark and has a comparable diaper design, though the general bombé shape of the box is more akin to earlier boxes. The second one, sold at Christie's, Geneva, 14 May 1985 and illustrated in A. K. Snowman's 1990 catalogue of 18th Century Gold Boxes of Europe, p. 129, no. 246, is dated 1750-52 with an illegible maker's mark; this example is identical in shape to the Blaquier-Arrieta box and is decorated with a zig-zag pattern that conveys a very modern aesthetic.
AUBERT: A SPECIALIST OF FLOWERS
The enamelling of the present snuff-box displays characteristics traditionally associated with the work of Louis-François Aubert (fl. 1748-1755). Aubert's style was clearly recognised by his contemporaries, yet only an enamelled portrait is known to bear his signature, sold at Christie's, London, 28 November 2012, lot 300.
In his Dictionnaire des Miniaturistes en Émail, Henri Clouzot also refers to Louis-François Aubert, described as peintre en émail du roi 'enamel painter to the King', who specialised in enamel decoration in relief. The inventory of his workshop taken after his death in 1755 records boxes of every size. The accounts of the Menus Plaisirs mention at least two boxes by Aubert. One 'emaillée par Aubert, à fleurs de relief fond mat à mosaique et bordure d'or polie' was supplied by Jean Ducrollay in 1751, and another 'emaillée à fleurs peintes par Aubert' was delivered by La Hoguette two years later. The Marchand-Mercier Lazare Duvaux sold Mme de Pompadour a piqué box with gold mounts 'emaillé de rose par Aubert' in April 1754. and the Marquise possessed two further examples of his work at her death in 1764. One box is described as simply enamelled by Aubert, but the other is 'emaillée à fleur en relief par Aubert', see A. Maze-Sencier, Le Livre des collectionneurs, Paris, 1885, pp. 153-154. According to Somers Cocks and Truman, no other enameller is credited with painting flowers in relief in the mid-eighteenth century, suggesting that boxes decorated in this manner and dating from 9 January 1748, when Aubert attained the maîtrise, until 20 October 1755, when he died, may be from Louis-François Aubert's workshop (see Somers Cocks and Truman, 1984, p. 175).