View full screen - View 1 of Lot 1079. A jewelled gold, enamel and ivory snuff box, Joseph-Etienne Blerzy, Paris, 1780/1781 and later.

Important Gold Boxes from a Private European Family Collection

A jewelled gold, enamel and ivory snuff box, Joseph-Etienne Blerzy, Paris, 1780/1781 and later

Lot Closed

May 16, 01:52 PM GMT

Estimate

40,000 - 60,000 CHF

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Lot Details

Description

oval, the lid later applied with an ivory miniature painted with a scene from the Old Testament, in a frame of large diamonds, the ground decorated in a vermiculated pattern over opalescent gorge de pigeon enamel over engine-turning, further rose-cut diamond and opalescent enamel bead borders, the sides further richly-decorated with leafy green enamel bands bordered with tiny diamonds and a chased entrelac-de-rubans border in translucent green and opaque white enamel, matching base, maker's mark, charge and discharge marks of Jean-Baptiste Fouache, Paris date letter R, the left rim numbered 989,


8.2 cm; 3 ¼ in. wide

Please note that this lot contains ivory. Commercial trade in ivory is regulated by multiple governments and international organisations around the world, including through prohibitions, restrictions and licensing and / or registration requirements. Different regulations apply to buyers, depending on their individual circumstances and the relevant auction / sale. Sotheby's therefore recommends that, before taking any action in relation to a potential purchase or handling of an ivory item, buyers obtain advice on the regimes and requirements applicable to them. A buyer's inability or delay to obtain necessary documentation, or lawfully arrange the export or import of the lot will not justify sale cancellation or a delay in payment.

Christie's Geneva, 10 May 1988, lot 337

Joseph-Etienne Blerzy was born on 8 June 1735 and apprenticed on 27 February 1750 to François-Joachim Aubert, a goldsmith who specialised in mounting tortoiseshell and lacquer snuff boxes. Aubert also acted as sponsor in 1768 when Blerzy became master. After several shops at different locations, he is recorded in the Almanach de Commerce in 1806 at the rue du Coq St. Honoré, where he moved to before 1798 and worked together with his brother Etienne-Lucien Blerzy. In 1808, Etienne-Lucien’s widow (Victoire Boisot) took over the business so presumably by that date Joseph-Etienne has retired after a long career as one of the most prolific and technically-accomplished late eighteenth century Parisian gold box makers. He died on 23 April 1821.

The opulent diamonds on the lid and the amount of smaller examples decorating the sides indicate that the box was likely part of a group of gold boxes modified for the Russian market in the nineteenth century.

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