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Lot Essay
The style of this box, which combines gold and tortoiseshell, is characteristic of the period, when goldsmiths were still affected by sumptuary laws limiting the quantity of precious metal that could be used in a single object. As a result, they often resorted to alternative materials such as hardstone, mother-of-pearl, and tortoiseshell.
Jean-François Raveché was born in Versailles. His father was a barbier-perruquier du Roi, whilst his maternal uncle, Antoine Maginel, and his cousin, Philippe-Antoine Maginel, were both goldsmiths. He was received as a master in 1720 by lettres patentes, sponsored by Denis Boutry. He died in 1747, although his widow continued the business, signing boxes as Veuve Raveché. She later married the gold box maker Jean-François Garand.
The Parisian goldsmiths' trade was a relatively small community, and Raveché probably met Daniel Gouers (or Govers) through his brother Jean-Antoine, who had presented his masterpiece to Gouers before being admitted as a master in Versailles. By the time this box was made, Gouers was already supplying the Menus-Plaisirs du Roi, if not serving as its principal supplier. Indeed, Maze-Sensier records that on the occasion of Louis XV's marriage to Marie Leszczyńska on 5 September 1725, Gouers supplied 69,110 livres' worth of snuff-boxes, watches, étuis, scent bottles, and other bijoux divers (see Maze-Sensier, op. cit., 1885, p. 152). Such an extraordinary volume of production suggests that Gouers necessarily subcontracted work to other goldsmiths, quite possibly including Raveché, while nevertheless retaining his own signature on the flanges of the boxes.
Jean-François Raveché was born in Versailles. His father was a barbier-perruquier du Roi, whilst his maternal uncle, Antoine Maginel, and his cousin, Philippe-Antoine Maginel, were both goldsmiths. He was received as a master in 1720 by lettres patentes, sponsored by Denis Boutry. He died in 1747, although his widow continued the business, signing boxes as Veuve Raveché. She later married the gold box maker Jean-François Garand.
The Parisian goldsmiths' trade was a relatively small community, and Raveché probably met Daniel Gouers (or Govers) through his brother Jean-Antoine, who had presented his masterpiece to Gouers before being admitted as a master in Versailles. By the time this box was made, Gouers was already supplying the Menus-Plaisirs du Roi, if not serving as its principal supplier. Indeed, Maze-Sensier records that on the occasion of Louis XV's marriage to Marie Leszczyńska on 5 September 1725, Gouers supplied 69,110 livres' worth of snuff-boxes, watches, étuis, scent bottles, and other bijoux divers (see Maze-Sensier, op. cit., 1885, p. 152). Such an extraordinary volume of production suggests that Gouers necessarily subcontracted work to other goldsmiths, quite possibly including Raveché, while nevertheless retaining his own signature on the flanges of the boxes.