A Rare Gold and Micromosaic Snuff Box, Michaelsson and Benedicks, Stockholm, 1810
No reserve
Auction Closed
June 18, 05:01 PM GMT
Estimate
5,000 - 7,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
rectangular, the Roman micromosaic plaque representing the Temple of Vesta, circa 1810, in a chased gold frame, the polished gold sides with stippled borders, fully hallmarked
Length 3 1/8 in.
7.9 cm
A European Private Collection
Haydn Williams, Micromosaics: Snuff Boxes from a Private Collection, London, 2012
A letter which formerly accompanied this rare snuff box made in Stockholm, dated 25 March 1812, and written by Prince Oscar of Sweden, records the gift of the box to "M. Lemoine fils." The prince intended to use this present to show his friend, who was most likely a son of General Lemoine, to dispel unjust French notions about Sweden's cultural backwardness, emphasizing, ‘vous voyez qu'en Suède, nous ne sommes pas si sauvages qu'on le croit en France.’ He asked Lemoine to keep the snuff box as a token of their friendship.
Prince Oscar, born Joseph François in 1799 in Paris, was the son of Carl XIV Johan (former Jean Baptiste Bernadotte), the King of Sweden and Norway, and his Queen consort Désirée Clary. In 1823, Oscar married Joséphine, the daughter of Eugène de Beauharnais, 1st Duke of Leuchtenberg. He ascended to the throne as King Oscar I in 1844, succeeding his father.
The plaque on the box represents one of Tivoli's most famous ancient sites, the Temple of Vesta. Perched on a cliff edge above the Anio River.
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