Live Auction 20036Two Private Collections of European Ceramics, Gold Boxes and Silver
A GERMAN VARI-GOLD SNUFF-BOX SET WITH AN ENAMEL PLAQUE
Lot 9

A GERMAN VARI-GOLD SNUFF-BOX SET WITH AN ENAMEL PLAQUE

CIRCA 1810, WITH SPURIOUS FRENCH CHARGE MARK FOR 1768-1774, THE FLANGE STAMPED 9984

Closed16 December 2021

Price Realised

GBP 8,125

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A GERMAN VARI-GOLD SNUFF-BOX SET WITH AN ENAMEL PLAQUE
CIRCA 1810, WITH SPURIOUS FRENCH CHARGE MARK FOR 1768-1774, THE FLANGE STAMPED 9984
Rectangular box, the cover set with an enamelled plaque depicting the Greek goddess Tyche, set in a chased gold frame with blue enamel border, the sides chased with foliate festoons and keys, the sides and base set with panels of reeded engine-turning, the base further centred with an octagonal cartouche chased with architectural trophies
2 7⁄8 in. (72 mm.) wide

Alan and Simone Hartman Collection, New York.

Specialist note


Tyche was the Greek goddess of chance, fate and fortune. The ancient Greeks thought she was the reason for unexpected events in their lives, both good and bad. She was especially revered in Athens, and Athenians believed that the goddess favoured their city.
In Greco-Roman and medieval art Tyche was depicted wearing a mural crown, carrying a cornucopia, an emblematic gubernaculum (ship's rudder) and the wheel of fortune, sometime standing on the wheel, presiding over the entire circle of fate.

Tyche is here depicted as the 'Triumph of Venice' on her cart drawn by two winged lions, the attributes of St. Mark, the patron saint of Venice, after a painting by Pompeo Batoni, dated 1737, and now in the North Carolina Museum of Art (acc. 60.17.60). This image celebrates the flourishing of the fine arts under the Doge Lionardo Loredan, governor of Venice in the early sixteenth century.
This depiction was used on another box sold at Christie's, Geneva, 14 May 1996, lot 259.