Tabatière en or et nacre, A gold-mounted mother of pearl snuff box

François Marteau, charge and discharge marks of Louis Robin, Paris, 1743



rectangular, each face overlaid with gold cagework of swirling rocaille scrolls and flowers enclosing mother of pearl panels within wavy borders, the lid chased with a chinoiserie view of a musician entertaining a reclining sage under the gaze of a perched bird, the sides similarly decorated, the base with a cluster of exotic fruit

anonymous vendor, Sotheby's Geneva, 14 November 1984, lot 340

Very good condition; three small mother of pearl sections with cracks (front, back, left side); discrete glue repairs visible under magnification. A very well-executed and attractive 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."

François-Joseph Marteau is first recorded by Nocq in February 1741, as graveur et orfèvre du Roi, taking over sieur Thomassin's lodgings in the Louvre (Le poinçon de Paris, Paris, 1926-1931, vol. III, p. 203). Before this, as engraver to Louis XV, he had been responsible for a number of important medals. The following month he was admitted as master goldsmith and entered his maker's mark, FM a hammer (marteau) between. In 1743 he took Louis-Guillaume Cassé as apprentice and in 1747, Jean-François Balzac; both future gold box makers. In 1755, he acted as executor for Louis-François Aubert, the celebrated enameller. His own death, on 5 March 1757 in the galeries du Louvre, was registered by another apprentice, Charles de Loyen, followed by burial at St Germain l'Auxerrois.

Marteau's gold boxes are very rare and in fact he was cited by Nocq and Dreyfus (H. Nocq & C. Dreyfus, Tabatières des collections du musée du Louvre, Paris, 1930, p. VII) as the example of an outstanding maker whose mark they had only seen once on a snuff box. They describe that box as 'd'une beauté exceptionelle d'ailleurs, en or ciselé sur pièce, avec ornements de rubis'. This could be the box of 1743 in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore (A. Kenneth Snowman, Gold Boxes of Europe, Woodbridge, 1990, pl. 229) or that, also of 1743, sold by Christie's, 12 June 2006, lot 46, both of which are decorated with diamonds, rubies and emeralds, or it could be another box, otherwise unrecorded, decorated only in rubies. The present box, again 1743, the third known as struck with Marteau's mark, is completely different in style although equally typical of its date.