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Lot Essay
The sitter of the miniature, Wilhelmine-Caroline Princess of Denmark (1747-1820) was the daughter of King Frederick V of Denmark and his first wife Princess Louisa of England. The marriage of Wilhelmine-Caroline to her first cousin William IX, Count of Hanau, later Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel and Elector of Hesse (see following lot), planned since their childhood, was celebrated in Copenhagen on 1 September 1764. Their union seems to have been unhappy as William IX had numerous mistresses and illegitimate children. From his long-lasting liaison with Fräulein von Schlotheim he had twenty-two children, later styled Counts Hessenstein. From his relationship with Rosa Lindenthal (née Ritter) he recognized seven children who were later ennobled to von Hahnau, and from Mrs Buisinne he had three children styled as Freiherren von Heimrod. At each birth of an illegitimate child, Wilhelm used to raise the salt price. From his marriage to Wilheline-Caroline, he had two daughters and two sons, including the future Elector William II of Hesse.
Salomon de Charrière de Sévery (1724-1793) was born in Lausanne. In 1748, he was appointed governor of the hereditary prince of Ysenburg-Birstein. Two years later, he accepted the offer from the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel to supervise the education of the three Princes William, Charles and Frederick of Hesse-Cassel, sons of Landgrave Frederick II and his wife Mary, the Princess Royal, a daughter of King George II of England (Mary, the Princess Royal was both the aunt and the mother-in-law of the sitter of the present miniature). In 1772, the eldest of his former pupils, Hereditary Prince William, then Count of Hanau, styled Salomon de Charrière de Sévery his Conseiller privé actuel with the title of Excellency.
This presentation gold snuff-box, made in 1754/1755, was probably acquired by the agents of the Count of Hanau from a marchand-mercier in Paris and fitted with the miniature of the Countess of Hanau, painted in 1768, so that he could give it to his Privy Councillor. It may be assumed that in the 18th Century numerous continental princely houses without local goldsmith's workshops did this to satisfy their demand for presentation boxes.
In the present case, a splendid tabatière by one of the best goldsmiths of the Louis XV period was selected. Jean Ducrollay's outstanding reputation is praised by A. Kenneth Snowman (Eighteenth Century Gold Boxes of Europe, London, 1966, p. 77): "Many of the most beautiful gold boxes produced in the reign of Louis XV were made in the workshop of Jean Ducrollay, and his is the name that first suggests itself for unvarying brilliance and craftmanship and freshness of design." Works by Ducrollay are in the Louvre, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Wallace Collection and in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Salomon de Charrière de Sévery (1724-1793) was born in Lausanne. In 1748, he was appointed governor of the hereditary prince of Ysenburg-Birstein. Two years later, he accepted the offer from the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel to supervise the education of the three Princes William, Charles and Frederick of Hesse-Cassel, sons of Landgrave Frederick II and his wife Mary, the Princess Royal, a daughter of King George II of England (Mary, the Princess Royal was both the aunt and the mother-in-law of the sitter of the present miniature). In 1772, the eldest of his former pupils, Hereditary Prince William, then Count of Hanau, styled Salomon de Charrière de Sévery his Conseiller privé actuel with the title of Excellency.
This presentation gold snuff-box, made in 1754/1755, was probably acquired by the agents of the Count of Hanau from a marchand-mercier in Paris and fitted with the miniature of the Countess of Hanau, painted in 1768, so that he could give it to his Privy Councillor. It may be assumed that in the 18th Century numerous continental princely houses without local goldsmith's workshops did this to satisfy their demand for presentation boxes.
In the present case, a splendid tabatière by one of the best goldsmiths of the Louis XV period was selected. Jean Ducrollay's outstanding reputation is praised by A. Kenneth Snowman (Eighteenth Century Gold Boxes of Europe, London, 1966, p. 77): "Many of the most beautiful gold boxes produced in the reign of Louis XV were made in the workshop of Jean Ducrollay, and his is the name that first suggests itself for unvarying brilliance and craftmanship and freshness of design." Works by Ducrollay are in the Louvre, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Wallace Collection and in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.