Live Auction 10397Centuries of Style: Silver, European Ceramics, Portrait Miniatures and Gold Boxes
A RUSSIAN ENAMELLED GOLD SNUFF-BOX
Lot 219

A RUSSIAN ENAMELLED GOLD SNUFF-BOX

BY PIERRE THÉREMIN (FL. 1793-1810), MARKED, WITH THE ASSAY MARK OF ALEXANDER JASCHINOW, ST PETERSBURG 1800, ENGRAVED WITH INVENTORY NO. 240 AND TWO FRENCH IMPORT MARKS FOR GOLD

Closed3 June 2015

Price Realised

GBP 21,250

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A RUSSIAN ENAMELLED GOLD SNUFF-BOX
BY PIERRE THÉREMIN (FL. 1793-1810), MARKED, WITH THE ASSAY MARK OF ALEXANDER JASCHINOW, ST PETERSBURG 1800, ENGRAVED WITH INVENTORY NO. 240 AND TWO FRENCH IMPORT MARKS FOR GOLD
rectangular box with canted corners, the cover set with an enamel painting of a port scene, with farm animals being loaded onto a barge in the foreground, a fort beyond, the sides and base with panels of translucent dark blue enamel over an engine-turned moiré ground, within translucent dark blue and white enamel taille d'épargne chevron borders and frames
3 5/8 in. (92 mm.) wide

Specialist note

Pierre Théremin flourished between 1793-1810 and shared a workshop in St Petersburg with his brother François-Claude. In 1801, he supplied four gold snuff-boxes to the Imperial Court. A box by Théremin in the Hermitage Museum, made in 1795 and with an enamel on the cover depicting the monument commemorating Russia's 1770 victory over Turkish forces in Chesme Bay, is very similar in style and shape to the present box, and typical of the style associated with early nineteenth century Swiss boxes, Ori e Argenti dall'Ermitage, exh. cat., Lugano: Villa Favorita, 1986, pp. 201, 250, cat. no. 86. Another box by Théremin is in the Louvre, Serge Grandjean, Les tabatières du musée du Louvre, Paris, 1981, no. 526.