Tabatière en or de trois couleurs et émail, three-colour gold and enamel snuff box

Jean-Joseph Barrière, charge and discharge marks of Julien Alaterre, Paris, 1771, the rim numbered: 841



oval, the lid, sides and base decorated with medallions painted in sepia camaïeu with personifications of the Arts and Sciences, the ground enamelled to simulate richly striated agate, the chased laurel borders interrupting a band of turquoise panels, the sides divided by putto herms

Baron Henri James de Rothschild;
René Fribourg Collection, sale, Sotheby's London, 14 October 1963, lot 331;
S. Bulgari Collection, Rome, sale, Christie's Geneva, 10 November 1987, lot 393;
anonymous vendor, Christie's London, 21 November 2000, lot 147

Excellent condition, with only very minor surface scratches. A rich, impressive and beautiful box.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Jean-Joseph Barrière became master in 1763, sponsored by Henri Delobel. He worked on the pont-Notre-Dame until 1786 when his shop and dwelling were pulled down during the reconstruction of the bridge; then moving to the rue Coq Saint-Honoré where he is recorded until the Terror in 1793. Barrière was one of the more productive Parisian goldsmiths: the Louvre owns ten examples of his work; Fürst Carl Anselm von Thurn und Taxis's collection of  gold boxes, largely bought at the time of manufacture, contained eight (Lorenz Seelig, Golddosen des 18. Jahrhunderts aus dem Besitz der Fürsten von Thurn und Taxis, Munich, 2007, nos. 7, 8, 15, 16, 20, 21, 22 and 25).

 

Barrière's work is characterised by luxury, colour and a certain sense of drama. Inevitably, the "Night and Day" box in the Thurn and Taxis collection (Seelig, op. cit, no. 21) is Barrière's work - deep sky blue enamel is set with a diamond sun,  moon and twinkling stars. The present box which features the popular combination of simulated cameos and hardstone is made more striking by the contrast with the turquoise-coloured borders. It should be compared with another Barrière box of the same year, from the Otiz-Patiño collection (A.K. Snowman, Eighteenth Century Gold Boxes of Paris, London, 1974, no. 46), which appears to be a prototype with similar en camaïeu enamel medallions and simulated turquoise-panelled borders around a somewhat less successful polished gold ground.