A Large Pearl-Set Gold Bonbonniere, Jean-George Rémond, Geneva, 1783-1791

Christie's London, 10 June 2008, lot 19

The Huguenot Jean George Rémond was born in Hanau in 1752 where he was trained as a bijoutier. He is first recorded as applying for domicile in Geneva in June 1783, perhaps attracted by the opportunities that he saw following the revolution of 1782. He was received as master in December 1783. The present lot was made during this first period of Rémond's long career as one of the most prolific bijoutiers in Geneva, before he and his business partners Laurent Guisseling and Jean Noé Lamy, both engravers from Hanau, went into partnership with Joseph Guidon and David Gide. This company for ‘la fabrication et la commerce de bijouterie’, was registered on 21 April 1796 under the name of Guidon, Rémond, Gide & Co (Julia Clarke, ‘Swiss Snuff Boxes 1785-1835’, in: Haydn Williams, Enamels of the World, The Khalili Collections, London, 2009, p. 295). The very successful and fruitful partnership came to an end in 1801, when a new company known as Rémond, Lamy & Co. was found (Julia Clarke, op. cit.; see lot 121 in this sale).