A LOUIS XVI ENAMELLED GOLD-MOUNTED AND LACQUER SNUFF-BOX

The technique of creating lacquer originated in Japan during the Jōmon period (1000 BC) and it was a slow and demanding process which required great skill. Some of the finest lacquer had up to thirty separate layers and was confined to painted or raised surfaces of gold on a black or red ground. This type was retained by the Japanese for their own use and examples considered to be inferior in quality were brought to Europe in the 1640s by the Dutch. Japanese lacquer became extremely fashionable at the French Court as early as in the 1730s and Parisian craftsmen were quick to utilise this highly desirable new medium and incorporate it onto works of art made locally. These artists must have had access to Japanese originals in the collections of the very few extremely wealthy Parisians able to afford such rare and exotic items.