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Lot Essay
Daniel Gouers was a Dutch maker, probably from Amsterdam, who moved to Paris around 1717 when he became a master, sponsored by Arnoult Georges. From 1727 he was allowed to use the title bijoutier du roi in addition to the title of Orfèvre ordinaire de la reine and Marchand Orfèvre de leurs Majestés. His name is regularly recorded between 1726 and 1735 in the accounts of the Menus Plaisirs and the Registres des Présents du Roi and was probably one of the most important supplier of snuff-boxes, objects of vertu and 'bijoux divers'.
To honour all these commissions he worked closely with several other goldsmiths including Claude de Villers (see Lot 103) and would engraved their boxes with his name which may account for his being credited with all these commissions.
Maze-Sencier records several boxes similar to the present lot, mostly set with gems and presented as diplomatic presents (op. cit. p. 169 and 170). For the period of the date-letter stamped on this box September 1732 to September 1733, Maze-Sencier lists the following deliveries:
'-15 octobre 1732. À l’envoyé de Gênes, une tabatière des mêmes maitres (faite par Gouers). 6,549 liv.
-27 avril 1733. Au Cte Potocki, venu à la cour de France notifier la mort du Roi de Pologne, une tabatière de chez Gouers, enrichie de diamants et des portraits du Roï et de la Reine, peints par Massé (payés 400 liv. les deux). 10,680 liv. — A un gentilhomme polonais, porteur d’un paquet pour la Reine, une tabatière d'or. 930 liv. — Poinçon de Gouers.
- 20 mar. 1733 A l'ambassadeur de Venise, une boîte à portrait peint par Massé. 12,527 Liv. — Poincon de Gouers.
- 5 juin. Au C'e de Galemberg, envoyé extraordinaire de Suède, une boîte des mêmes maîtres, garnie de brillants. 6,955 liv.'
In 1736 Gouers filed for bankruptcy, but in 1737 he is declared missing, reportedly living in Belgium before being forced to return to Paris, where he was imprisoned in the Bastille between 23 October 1737 and 15 February 1738. By 1742 he is still reported as "absent" and died in 1749. Interestingly despite these absences Gouers seems to have retain his status as master.
Gouers was undoubtedly a complex character with a turbulent life. Nonetheless he was one of the most prominent gold box makers of the 1720s and 1730s. His accession to the status of goldsmith to the King and the Court suggests he could charm his way to success. But this does not deter from the fact that his boxes are always of the highest standard and gold examples often influenced by the designs of Juste-Aurele Meissonnier with extravagant swirling, fluting and shells, all finely chased, possibly by the great chaser Gerard Débèche, with whom he worked closely.
To honour all these commissions he worked closely with several other goldsmiths including Claude de Villers (see Lot 103) and would engraved their boxes with his name which may account for his being credited with all these commissions.
Maze-Sencier records several boxes similar to the present lot, mostly set with gems and presented as diplomatic presents (op. cit. p. 169 and 170). For the period of the date-letter stamped on this box September 1732 to September 1733, Maze-Sencier lists the following deliveries:
'-15 octobre 1732. À l’envoyé de Gênes, une tabatière des mêmes maitres (faite par Gouers). 6,549 liv.
-27 avril 1733. Au Cte Potocki, venu à la cour de France notifier la mort du Roi de Pologne, une tabatière de chez Gouers, enrichie de diamants et des portraits du Roï et de la Reine, peints par Massé (payés 400 liv. les deux). 10,680 liv. — A un gentilhomme polonais, porteur d’un paquet pour la Reine, une tabatière d'or. 930 liv. — Poinçon de Gouers.
- 20 mar. 1733 A l'ambassadeur de Venise, une boîte à portrait peint par Massé. 12,527 Liv. — Poincon de Gouers.
- 5 juin. Au C'e de Galemberg, envoyé extraordinaire de Suède, une boîte des mêmes maîtres, garnie de brillants. 6,955 liv.'
In 1736 Gouers filed for bankruptcy, but in 1737 he is declared missing, reportedly living in Belgium before being forced to return to Paris, where he was imprisoned in the Bastille between 23 October 1737 and 15 February 1738. By 1742 he is still reported as "absent" and died in 1749. Interestingly despite these absences Gouers seems to have retain his status as master.
Gouers was undoubtedly a complex character with a turbulent life. Nonetheless he was one of the most prominent gold box makers of the 1720s and 1730s. His accession to the status of goldsmith to the King and the Court suggests he could charm his way to success. But this does not deter from the fact that his boxes are always of the highest standard and gold examples often influenced by the designs of Juste-Aurele Meissonnier with extravagant swirling, fluting and shells, all finely chased, possibly by the great chaser Gerard Débèche, with whom he worked closely.