Snuffbox

The son of a goldsmith, Jean Frémin received his mastership in 1738. From then until his retirement by 1783, when he is recorded as ancien (former) orfèvre, he lived at multiple addresses.(1) Not many of his works survive, but they range in date from 1738 to 1768 and display a consistency of emphasis on the textural and coloristic effects of gold. There is no known connection between Jean Frémin and Jean-Marie Tiron (called Tiron de Nanteuil; active 1748 – before 1773, died 1793[?]), but a number of goldsmiths, including Tiron in his early years, were described as marchands orfèvres and served as occasional retailers of the work of their fellow craftsmen. The practice was unsystematic: the boxes of any one maker might not be inscribed at all, or some might bear the names of one or more goldsmiths as retailers. No boxes by Frémin other than the present one are inscribed. This work is one of a well-defined group of varicolored gold boxes that are flat-chased with pictorial or floral subjects on rayed grounds, of which documented works date from 1754 – 55 to 1759 – 60. The regularity of format and similarity of composition of the floral bouquets point to a common design (or set of designs), although the fashion for boxes in this style could well have originated with an influential goldsmith such as Jean Ducrollay, who made three of the earliest pieces. Three others in the group are by Frémin,(2) and of them this box is the most richly detailed in its floral composition, having a close parallel with polychrome enameled versions of the genre. The inscription inside the lid refers to the Quebec Bank, which was founded in 1818 to aid the lumber industry and which merged with the Royal Bank of Canada in 1917. John Fraser was a member of the board of directors (1828 – 34) and served as vice president (1835 – 38) and president (1839 – 41).(3) The box was likely presented to him upon his retirement.

Catalogue entry from Clare Le Corbeiller. The Robert Lehman Collection. Decorative Arts, Vol. XV. Wolfram Koeppe, et al. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art in association with Princeton University Press, 2012, pp. 155-56.

NOTES:
1. Nocq, Henry. Le poinçon de Paris: Répertoire des maîtresorfevres de la juridiction de Paris depuis le Moyen-Âge jusqu’a la fin du XVIIIe siecle. 5 vols. Paris, 1926-31. Vol. 2, pp. 194-95.
2. The present work; one of 1756 – 57 in the Wallace Collection, London (G.22); and another in the Metropolitan Museum of 1757 – 58 (48.187.449).
3. I am indebted to Linda J. Mazurek, Quebec Government House, for this information.

Marking: Marks:
In the cover, in the base, and inside the wall:(1)
1. Maker’s mark of Jean Frémin, a crowned fleur-de-lis, two grains de remède, JF, device an eagle’s head (2)
2. An ox’s head, the charge mark for gold and small silver, Paris 1750 – 56 (3)

In the cover and in the base:
Marks 1, 2, and 3. Crowned italic P, the warden’s mark for gold and small silver, Paris, 1755 – 56 (4)

On the right side of the bezel:
4. A hen’s head, the discharge mark for gold and small silver, Paris, 1 October 1750 – 1 October 1756 (5)
5. An eagle displayed, the inventory mark of the Russian Imperial Collections (6)

NOTES:
1. Certain marks have been interpreted by Charles Truman.
2. Nocq, Henry. Le poinçon de Paris: Répertoire des maîtresorfèvres de la juridiction de Paris depuis le Moyen-Âge jusqu’à la fin du XVIIIe siècle. 5 vols. Paris, 1926 – 31, vol. 2, pp. 194 – 95.
3. Bimbenet-Privat, Michèle, and Gabriel de Fontaines. La datation de l’orfèvrerie parisienne sous l’Ancien Régime: Poinçons de jurande et poinçons de la Marque, 1507 – 1792. Paris, 1995, no. 411.
4. Ibid., no. 425.
5. Ibid., no. 413.
6. Solodkoff, Alexander von. Russian Gold and Silverwork, Seventeenth –Nineteenth Century. New York, 1981, pp. 163-64. [Translation of Russische Goldschmiedekunst, 17. – 19. Jahrhundert: Silber, Email, Niello, Golddosen, Schmuck. Munich, 1981.

Russian Imperial Collections; The Honorable John Fraser, Quebec.