The same set of marks can also be found on a gold and enamel box in the museum Schloss Philipsruhe in Hanau (inv. no HMH-B 2019.0091, see Lorenz Seelig, 'Die Hanauer Golddosen des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts - 2019 fuer das Historische Museum Hanau erworben', in Neues Magazin fuer Hanauische Geschichte, Hanau, 2020, p. 152), as well as on gold and enamel boxes in other renowned museum collections, such as the Musee du Louvre (see also Lorenz Seelig, 'Ignaz Peter Krafft und die Hanauer Luxuswarenproduktion', in Magazin fuer Hanauische Stadtgeschichte, 2018, p. 92). Esaias Fernau (1734-1795) was one of the most important bijoutiers in Hanau, and a member of the group of prolific goldsmiths in the Neustadt who had formed a society in 1764, eight years before the Zeichenakademie opened its doors for students wanting to learn the profession of the engine-turner, enameller, chaser, engraver etc. Together with Esaye Souchay, Marc-Andre Souchay, Charles Toussaint, Pierre Toussaint, Gutschmidt, Esaias Obicker, Daniel Marchand, the Colin brothers, and G. Bocquet, Fernau was a founding member of this so called 'Bijoutier-Gesellschaft'. Among their aims was to establish certain rules and laws around the gold industry in terms of the gold standard, entry rules for foreign gold workers, apprenticeships etc, which already existed in other European centres of production, such as Paris and Berlin, and were supposed to align Hanau with these cities in order to be able to compete with them, which later turned out to be a very successful undertaking. (Lorenz Caspari, Die Entwicklung des Hanauer Edelmetallgewerbes von seiner Entstehung im Jahre 1597 bis zum Jahre 1873, Freiburg, 1916, p. 108-109) Esaias Fernau worked in partnership with Daniel Marchand between 1762 and 1780, followed by a partnership ('compagnie') with the enameller Friedrich Wagenfuehrer (1743-1818) and thereafter with his brother (Johann) Friedrich Fernau, under the name of 'E. Fernau et. Comp' or 'Gebrueder Fernau' (Lorenz Seelig, 2018, op. cit, p. 92). Lorenz Caspari already complained in 1916 that it was nearly impossible to find out all the details of the makers and different companies and partnerships that were active in Hanau from the last third of the 18th century until the mid-19th century, and this becomes even more evident when considering the fact that goldsmiths could choose their (joint) marks as they pleased, without any formal regulations. Many of the bijoutiers in the Hanau Neustadt were also related to one another, such as Esaias Fernau and Daniel Marchand, by marriage of Esaias to Marchand's sister Anne Madeleine Marchand on 19 July 1762 (Lorenz Seelig 2020, op. cit, p. 159). These family ties often influenced collaborations as well.
