Live Auction 14226Opulence: Silver, Gold Boxes, 19th Century Furniture & Works of Art
A LOUIS XVI VARI-COLOUR GOLD BONBONNIÈRE
Lot 49

A LOUIS XVI VARI-COLOUR GOLD BONBONNIÈRE

BY MELCHOIR-RENÉ BARRE (FL. 1768-1791), MARKED, PARIS, 1776/1777, WITH THE CHARGE AND DECHARGE MARKS OF JEAN BAPTISTE FOUACHE 1774-1780

Closed6 June 2017

Price Realised

GBP 3,500

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A LOUIS XVI VARI-COLOUR GOLD BONBONNIÈRE
BY MELCHOIR-RENÉ BARRE (FL. 1768-1791), MARKED, PARIS, 1776/1777, WITH THE CHARGE AND DECHARGE MARKS OF JEAN BAPTISTE FOUACHE 1774-1780
circular bonbonnière, the cover, sides and base set with panels of peak-pattern engine-turning, the cover and base centred with vari-colour gold rosettes, with vari-colour gold flowerhead and husk outer borders, the interior of the cover engraved with inscription ‘Once the property / of / Louis 16th King of France / And / Presented by him / To a sincere Friend’
2¼ in. (55 mm.) diam.
2½ oz. (76 gr.)

Specialist note

Melchior-René Barre was apprenticed to the master goldsmith Jean Frémin in 1751. He became master on 11 June 1768, sponsored by Jean-Louis Bouillerot. He was then living in the place Dauphine, where he is recorded in 1772 in the Almanach d'Indication for le bijou d'or. By 1774 he had moved to the quai des Orfèvres, advertising the loss of 'une tabatière marbrée avec un portrait de femme'. Barre retired in 1791.