Box and cover

The work of Marie Zimmermann was admired and celebrated during her lifetime, and it continues to attract attention today. Although trained in painting and sculpting, she was primarily a metalworker, who liked to say that she made "everything from tiaras to tombstones." This covered box is one of two known on which Zimmermann incorporated a cameo—in this case depicting a classically-dressed woman with curly hair. The oval silver box is intricately worked with a design of classical columns and arches engraved around its sides. The cover is treated almost like a piece of jewelry. Here Zimmermann applied alternating green and blue stone triangles along the outer edge, while in the center, surrounding the applied cameo, she encircled the rich green of malachite with beaded gold in a border studded with 24 citrine cabochons. Four symmetrically placed panels of enameling—two ornamented with lapis lazuli cabochons and two with malachite cabochons—successfully unite the elaborate design both visually and practically.