Snuffbox
Small gold boxes intended to hold snuff, a form of powdered and often scented tobacco, became a focus of an elaborate social ritual and a symbol of extravagance and vanity in eighteenth-century France.
The containers were usually of such luxurious nature that they were the ultimate fashion accessories in eighteenth-century Europe and were frequently given as presents. Beginning in the 1720s and continuing up to the French Revolution, snuff boxes were produced in significant quantities.
Enameling became the dominant type of decoration on gold boxes around 1745 and was executed by specialists outside the goldsmith’s workshop. In this early example, marked 1747–49, enameling was used naturalistically with flower trails extending over the surface against a finely engraved ground. The borders of this box are burnished gold reeds tied with blue and white illusionistic blue and white enamel ribbons.
This particular style of enameling of flowers painted in relief may be attributed to Louis-François Aubert (d. 1755) an enameller and miniature portrait painter to the King. His work appears to have been greatly appreciated. Contemporary records and receipts, for example, identify boxes enameled by Aubert without noting the maker of the box itself. Madame de Pompadour acquired a box in 1754 from the marchand mercier La Hoguette, described as “émaillée à fleurs peintes par Aubert.” Two further boxes by Aubert are listed in the marquise’s inventory following her death, indicating that his style of enameling was clearly recognizable.
A number of boxes with similar enameling, painted en plein, that is, directly on the surface, are in The Met’s collection including 17.190.1232 and 76.155.14.
Daughter of one of the founders of the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company, Catherine D. Wentworth (1865–1948) was an art student and painter who lived in France for over thirty years. She became one of the most important American collectors of eighteenth-century French silver and on her death in 1948 bequeathed part of her significant collection of silver, gold boxes, French furniture and textiles to the Metropolitan Museum.
The containers were usually of such luxurious nature that they were the ultimate fashion accessories in eighteenth-century Europe and were frequently given as presents. Beginning in the 1720s and continuing up to the French Revolution, snuff boxes were produced in significant quantities.
Enameling became the dominant type of decoration on gold boxes around 1745 and was executed by specialists outside the goldsmith’s workshop. In this early example, marked 1747–49, enameling was used naturalistically with flower trails extending over the surface against a finely engraved ground. The borders of this box are burnished gold reeds tied with blue and white illusionistic blue and white enamel ribbons.
This particular style of enameling of flowers painted in relief may be attributed to Louis-François Aubert (d. 1755) an enameller and miniature portrait painter to the King. His work appears to have been greatly appreciated. Contemporary records and receipts, for example, identify boxes enameled by Aubert without noting the maker of the box itself. Madame de Pompadour acquired a box in 1754 from the marchand mercier La Hoguette, described as “émaillée à fleurs peintes par Aubert.” Two further boxes by Aubert are listed in the marquise’s inventory following her death, indicating that his style of enameling was clearly recognizable.
A number of boxes with similar enameling, painted en plein, that is, directly on the surface, are in The Met’s collection including 17.190.1232 and 76.155.14.
Daughter of one of the founders of the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company, Catherine D. Wentworth (1865–1948) was an art student and painter who lived in France for over thirty years. She became one of the most important American collectors of eighteenth-century French silver and on her death in 1948 bequeathed part of her significant collection of silver, gold boxes, French furniture and textiles to the Metropolitan Museum.
Artwork Details
- Title: Snuffbox
- Maker: Jean Moynat (French, master 1745, died 1761)
- Enameler: attributed to Louis-François Aubert (French, died 1755)
- Date: 1747–49
- Culture: French, Paris
- Medium: Gold, enamel
- Dimensions: Overall: 1 3/8 × 3 1/8 × 2 3/8 in. (3.5 × 7.9 × 6 cm)
- Classification: Metalwork-Gold and Platinum
- Credit Line: Bequest of Catherine D. Wentworth, 1948
- Object Number: 48.187.426
- Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
More Artwork
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Jean Moynat (French, master 1745, died 1761)
1753–54
Jean Moynat (French, master 1745, died 1761)
1750–51
Mathieu Coiny fils (born 1723, master 1755, recorded 1788)
1759–60
Jean Georges (or George) (master 1752, died 1765)
ca. 1761–62
1734–35
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