Gold Boxes, Silver and Ceramics

A gold and enamel portrait snuff box, Esaias Fernau, Hanau, circa 1785,

VAT reduced rate

Auction Closed

November 10, 04:38 PM GMT

Estimate

7,000 - 10,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

A gold and enamel portrait snuff box, Esaias Fernau, Hanau, circa 1785,

oval, the lid applied with an earlier enamel portrait miniature, possibly representing Madame de Sévigné, the reeded ground painted with wintry sepia branches in imitation of dendritic agate, red and green leafy enamel borders, the side panels with green bead and red enamel borders, French prestige marks including maker's mark EF for Esaias Fernau, charge mark of Julien Alaterre, crowned letter F, the rim with Hanau 18ct bird's head control mark, in later silk-lined leather case

8.1cm., 3¼in. wide

(2)

Madame de Sévigné (1626-96) was an aristocrat and an important member of Parisian society under Louis XIV. Through her witty and prolific correspondence, she has left us a vivid portrait of French courtly culture in one of its most celebrated eras. Most of her letters are addressed to her daughter Françoise-Marguerite, but her circle of close friends included prominent writers such as La Rochefoucauld and Madame de La Fayette, author of La Princesse de Clèves. Madame de Sévigné’s writings comment on the full spectrum of seventeenth-century Parisian lifetime, and she is now seen as one of Europe’s greatest letter-writers and an unmatched chronicler of France’s Grand Siècle.

For a catalogue note on Esaias Fernau, Hanau goldsmith and maker of the present box, please see lot 70 in this sale.