Live Auction 5377Centuries of Style: Silver, European Ceramics, Portrait Miniatures and Gold Boxes
A FINE LOUIS XV PARCEL-ENAMELLED GOLD SNUFF-BOX THE INTERIOR SET WITH A PORTRAIT MINIATURE
Lot 69 Property of a Gentleman Removed from a Scottish House

A FINE LOUIS XV PARCEL-ENAMELLED GOLD SNUFF-BOX THE INTERIOR SET WITH A PORTRAIT MINIATURE

MAKER'S MARK INDISTINCT, SECOND LETTER [ ] F, POSSIBLY FOR FREMIN, FORMEY OR GARAND, PARIS, 1753/1754, WITH THE CHARGE AND DECHARGE MARKS OF JULIEN BERTHE 1750-1756, THE FLANGE ENGRAVED 'GARAND A PARIS', THE MINIATURE BY GERVASE SPENCER (BRITISH, C.1715-1763)

Closed31 May 2012

Price Realised

GBP 18,750

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A FINE LOUIS XV PARCEL-ENAMELLED GOLD SNUFF-BOX THE INTERIOR SET WITH A PORTRAIT MINIATURE
MAKER'S MARK INDISTINCT, SECOND LETTER [ ] F, POSSIBLY FOR FREMIN, FORMEY OR GARAND, PARIS, 1753/1754, WITH THE CHARGE AND DECHARGE MARKS OF JULIEN BERTHE 1750-1756, THE FLANGE ENGRAVED 'GARAND A PARIS', THE MINIATURE BY GERVASE SPENCER (BRITISH, C.1715-1763)
oval box of polished gold, the cover, sides and base enamelled en basse-taille with translucent blue and green flowers and foliage within translucent blue enamel ribbon borders, the interior cover inset with an oval watercolour on ivory portait miniature by Gervase Spencer of Lord John Murray, signed with initials (mid-right), in original shagreen case
2¾ in. (70 mm.) wide (2)

Specialist note

The box was retailed by Jean-François Garand (fl. 1748-1778) who was a renowned goldsmith in his own right. His shop 'A l'Observatoire' on the Pont Notre-Dame must have been very successful as Garand was a supplier of the Menus-Plaisirs du Roi from 1762 onward.
A Louis XV gold carnet by Jean Ducrollay (fl. 1734-1761) of 1750/1751 with similar basse-taille enamelled flowers is in the Thyssen Collection, as well as a similarly enamelled snuff-box by Jean Frémin of 1752/1753. The enamelling for those pieces has been attributed to Hubert-Louis Cheval de St-Hubert, an orfèvre-émailleur who worked from 1751 to 1762 (see A. Somers Cocks and C. Truman, The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection. Renaissance jewels, gold boxes and objects de vertu, London, 1984, nos. 56 and 58).