A GOLD BOX SET WITH FRENCH ENAMEL PANELS

THE BOX PROBABLY GERMAN, CIRCA 1725/1730; THE ENAMEL PANELS BLOIS, CIRCA 1640/1650

Details

A GOLD BOX SET WITH FRENCH ENAMEL PANELS
the box probably German, circa 1725/1730; the enamel panels Blois, circa 1640/1650
Circular box, the independent cover and base inset with the convex lid and base of an enamelled watch case painted with scenes from the life of the Infant Jesus, the gold sides chased and engraved with a band of trelliswork and burnished rocaille alternating with finely chiselled hunting scenes on a sablé ground, with reeded borders; in fine original blue-green shagreen case with velvet lining and three gold clasps and gold rosettes
65 mm. (2.1/2 in.) diam. (2)

Lot Essay

The scene at the inside of the base is taken after Laurent de La Hyre's La Vierge avec les anges qui représentent la croix à l'Enfant engraved by himself in 1639. The composition with Jesus riding on a lamb fed by St. John the Baptist, fired on the outside of the base, reappears on the base of a watch cover illustrated in T. P. Camerer Cuss, The Camerer Cuss Book of Antique Watches, Woodbridge, 1976, pl. 19, p. 67.
We are indebted to Dr. Hans Boeckh, Geneva, for his help in the cataloguing of this lot.

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