Snuffbox, ca. 1815
Maker: Gabriel-Raoul Morel (French, active 1798–ca. 1827); School of Jean-Baptiste Isabey (French, 1767–1855) and possibly Madame Aimée-Zoë Lizinka de Mirbel (French, 1796–1849)
Gold, ivory; 3 1/8 x 2 1/2 in. (7.9 x 6.4 cm)
Signed: (on portrait of Marie Louise) Isabey 1812; (on portrait of King of Rome) Isabey 1815; (on portrait of Napoleon) M. 1815 (said to be Madame Aimée-Zoë Lizinka de Mirbel)
Marks: [1] GRM, an ear, in a lozenge (maker's mark); [2] bear's head, numeral 3, in circle (unofficial Paris mark for gold, post-Revolution); [3] lion's head in circle (Paris large excise mark for gold, 1809–19); [4] possibly a cock, numeral 3, in vertical hexagon (Paris mark for 3rd standard gold, 1809–19); [5] bull, numeral 3, in horizontal hexagon (Paris mark for 3rd standard gold, 1819–38); [6] old man's head, profile to left, in circle (Paris large excise mark for gold, 1819–38); [7, 8] indecipherable
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.190.1114)
Technical Glossary
Maker: Gabriel-Raoul Morel (French, active 1798–ca. 1827); School of Jean-Baptiste Isabey (French, 1767–1855) and possibly Madame Aimée-Zoë Lizinka de Mirbel (French, 1796–1849)
Gold, ivory; 3 1/8 x 2 1/2 in. (7.9 x 6.4 cm)
Signed: (on portrait of Marie Louise) Isabey 1812; (on portrait of King of Rome) Isabey 1815; (on portrait of Napoleon) M. 1815 (said to be Madame Aimée-Zoë Lizinka de Mirbel)
Marks: [1] GRM, an ear, in a lozenge (maker's mark); [2] bear's head, numeral 3, in circle (unofficial Paris mark for gold, post-Revolution); [3] lion's head in circle (Paris large excise mark for gold, 1809–19); [4] possibly a cock, numeral 3, in vertical hexagon (Paris mark for 3rd standard gold, 1809–19); [5] bull, numeral 3, in horizontal hexagon (Paris mark for 3rd standard gold, 1819–38); [6] old man's head, profile to left, in circle (Paris large excise mark for gold, 1819–38); [7, 8] indecipherable
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.190.1114)
Made by Gabriel-Raoul Morel in about 1815, this snuffbox of matte and polished gold with scrolling acanthus design contains a removable medallion with a framed portrait miniature of Marie Louise (1791–1847) by Isabey. The portrait forms a cover to a secret compartment containing two other miniatures, one of Napoleon I (1769–1821), possibly by Mirbel, and the other of the King of Rome (François-Joseph-Charles, duke of Reichstadt, 1811–1832) by Isabey.
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