Snuffbox with a Scene of Venus and Cupid

Joseph Etienne Blerzy

1781–82 · Gold and enamel · Robert Lehman Collection

No charge mark for gold and small silver work was registered at the outset of the new tax farm in 1781, although this was corrected two years later. Boxes made in the interim were struck with the mark seen on this box. The fashion for boxes that accommodated other media in their design encouraged the production of miniatures on vellum, ivory, or enamel from which the goldsmiths or retailers could choose. The randomness of subject matter is indicated by 106 such miniatures sold from the Cottin collection in 1752, which included royal and anonymous portraits; genre, landscape, and allegorical scenes; pastoral and biblical subjects; and birds.

Artist

Joseph Etienne Blerzy

Date

1781–82

Medium

Gold and enamel

Department

Robert Lehman Collection

Credit line

Robert Lehman Collection, 1975