Bonbonnière ronde en or de trois couleurs par Pierre Sévin, Paris, 1777-1778

Pierre Sévin appears to have been prominent both as a retail goldsmith and jeweller and in the Goldsmiths' Guild where he rose to become Prime Warden in 1784. The directories record him on the pont au Change, 'aux Armes de France, pour tout ce qui concerne le service de table et le bijou d'or'. Sévin had been apprenticed in 1738, becoming master, sponsored by Warden Jean-Baptiste Martine, in 1756. He is recorded as still in business until 1790. Nocq lists several Lost and Found notices for Sévin from the Affiches de Paris including two for gold boxes for which there will be 'une récompense honnête': one of 1777 for 'une boîte d'or longue et étroite, pleine de tabac d'Espagne' and one of 1767 for 'une boîte d'homme, ovale, émaillée de pastorales d'après Boucher. Il y a le numéro 911 dans le fond de dessous...'. This is a rare contemporary mention of a goldsmith's numbering system and shows that the numerals were used for identification as well as being inventory or stock numbers.