A FRENCH ENAMELLED TWO-COLOUR GOLD SNUFF-BOX

Vachette was one of the leading and most inventive Parisian gold box makers at the turn of the 18th to the 19th Century, best known for integrating alternative materials in his boxes such as lacquer and hardstones. Henry Nocq, Le poinçon de Paris, Paris, 1968, [reprint], p. 76, praises Vachette: 'Avant et après la Révolution les plus belles tabatières d'or sont marquées du poinçon de Vachette.' The mark of a boy's head with the numeral 2 is believed to be a standard mark for 20k gold, in use soon after the Revolution, circa 1793, and for some time thereafter. For a discussion of this mark, see: A. Somers Cocks & C. Truman, The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection: Renaissance Jewels, Gold Boxes and Objects de Vertu , 1984, no. 81, p. 242-44.