petite tabatière en cornaline à montures d'or par Nicolas Bouillerot, Paris, 1729/1730

en forme de navire, les montures d'or striées faisant un avec le fermoir, le tout à filets ondulants, poinçon de maître, poinçons de charge et décharge de Jacques Cottin, poinçon de décharge postérieur d'Antoine Leschaudel



of boat form, reeded gold mounts with integral wavy thumbpiece, maker's mark, charge and discharge marks of Jacques Cottin, later discharge of Antoine Leschaudel

Slight rubbing to stone on lid but otherwise excellent condition
"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."

Henri Nocq was able to discover more information than usual about the life and work of Nicolas Bouillerot, mounter of hardstone boxes in silver and gold and the first of a long line of Paris goldsmiths (Le poinçon de Paris, Paris, 1926-1931, vol. I, p. 162). Bouillerot became master on 30 January 1720, sponsored by Pierre-Lucas Colas but he was previously recorded in December 1719  by the Goldsmiths' Guild's inspectors when they paid a surprise visit to the house of the widow Neuve on the pont au Change. Pierre Neuve had died in 1705 but his widow's shop is listed in 1713 and 1715. When the inspectors arrived in 1719, they found only Angélique Bivelat, Bouillerot's wife on the premises. Nicolas is described as a journeyman shortly to become master and succeed to the widow Neuve's business. It is further noted that there were no account books and little stock but what little was present was all in order.

Twenty years later, in July 1740,  Bouillerot was not so lucky when he and his journeyman François Lacarrière were arrested and imprisoned in the Conciergerie for having made snuff box mounts of inferior standard. Lacarrière was condemned to remain a journeyman (but not with Bouillerot) and never become master while Bouillerot was fined 100 livres, suspended for 3 months and his stock confiscated. According to Nocq this was a comparatively mild sentence indicating that the Guild did not consider the goldsmith to be very guilty but wished to register its opposition to 'dangerous innovations'.

Bouillerot died in 1754 at the age of 70 leaving two sons, Pierre and François-Nicolas, both also silversmiths. That Nicolas Bouillerot specialised in mounting boxes is confirmed not only by his crime but by the existence of a small number of elegant hardstone boxes struck with his mark or signature such as the shell-shaped agate-onyx box, Paris 1727-1732, now in the Louvre and formerly in the Palace Collections of Egypt (Serge Grandjean, Les tabatières du musée du Louvre, Paris, 1981, no. 48).