A two-colour gold and enamel snuff box, Les Freres Toussaint, Hanau, circa 1780

Lot Closed

November 13, 03:33 PM GMT

Estimate

10,000 - 15,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

Property of a Distinguished Italian Collector

A two-colour gold and enamel snuff box, Les Freres Toussaint, Hanau, circa 1780

oval, the lid set with a contemporary enamel plaque painted with The Continence of Scipio in a gold frame, the ground of translucent honey-coloured enamel over elaborately patterned engine-turning, within opaque white beads and pale blue enamel bands, alternating with translucent green laurel leaves, the sides and base similarly decorated, French prestige marks including maker's mark, Hanau bird's head control mark for 19ct gold, post-1806 Prague control mark

8.2cm., 3 1/4 in. wide

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The enamelled medallion on this gold box of rather rare colour represents the classical subject of The Continence of Scipio, named after the Roman consul Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (236/235 – 185 BC). According to Livy, Scipio refused a generous ransom for a female prisoner during the Second Punic War (218-201 BC) and instead brought her back to her fiancé. This is generally considered one of the earliest examples of mercy in times of war. The subject was a popular choice among history painters from the Renaissance to the second half of the 18^th century, for artists such as Tiepolo, and soon thereafter it found its way into the decorative arts.