CIRCA 1870

These charming brule-parfum, with delicate mounts enclosing a body of precious agate, reflect the passion for hardstones beginning in the 1770s and 1780s of connoisseur collectors such as the duc d'Aumont and, subsequently, Queen Marie-Antoinette. The duc d'Aumont was Director of the Menus Plaisirs and himself established a workshop in 1770 specialising in the cutting and polishing of precious hardstones. This celebrated atelier employed the influential architect François-Joseph Bélanger (1744-1818) as designer, Pierre Gouthiére (1732-1813) as ciseleur-doreur, Augustin Bocciardi (active 1760-1790) as sculpteur and Guillemain for giving the hardstones a 'polis ferme et brillant' and remained influential untill the late 19th century.