Property from the Alan and Simone Hartman Collection
A gold and enamel snuff box, probably Berlin or Geneva, circa 1790
Lot Closed
May 15, 12:22 PM GMT
Estimate
6,000 - 8,000 CHF
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Read more.Lot Details
Description
oval, the lid applied with an enamel plaque of The Nursing of Bacchus after Angelica Kauffmann, within a gold and white enamel frame, on a dark blue translucent enamel ground over wavy sunburst engine-turning, within fine gold, blue and white foliate paillon borders, the sides and base decorated to match, maker's mark crowned R incuse
length 8.7 cm; 3 3/8 in.
There is a group of snuff boxes struck with the letter R which can be stylistically dated to the last decade of the 19th century. Ten examples belong to the Iakobachvili collection and are discussed in Williams, H. (ed.) 18th-Century Snuffboxes, Snuffboxes in the Iakobachvili Collection, Vol. 1 (Monaco, 2024) p.294-299 (no.289-298). Williams has suggested two possible centres of manufacture for this group of boxes: Geneva and Berlin. Evidence suggesting that this group of boxes were made in Geneva is supported by the signature of Geneva-born enameller Jean Abraham Lissignol on one such box in the Iakobachvili collection (no.292), as well as one box containing a movement by Swiss makers Jaquet-Droz & Leschot (no. 332).
Evidence that the boxes were made in Berlin include the filagree decoration found on two boxes in the collection (no.294 and 295) which resemble that on a box attributed to Lautier & Sohne of Berlin, as well as the similarity between marks found on boxes struck with maker's mark R and those of Frères Jordan.