Snuffbox

Unknown

ca. 1785 · Gold and enamel · Robert Lehman Collection

The incuse form of the maker’s mark, a system never used in France, and the appearance of the remaining ones, identify them as “prestige” marks and suggest that the box is one of those made in Switzerland in the last quarter of the eighteenth century in what is considered to be respectful imitation of Parisian boxes. The makers have for the most part remained unidentified; they most probably worked in Geneva, long a center for goldsmithing and enameling associated with the watchmaking industry. No other box with the initials of this maker is known. Although the marks struck on these Swiss boxes were incompatible with French custom and were frequently internally inconsistent, the decorative styles followed Parisian ones closely and accurately. The overall scheme of decoration and the border and enameling details of this box, are so characteristic of the Frenchman Joseph-Étienne Blerzy, about 1781 – 83,(1) that it is quite likely that the design of this box is based on one or more of his works.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1785

Medium

Gold and enamel

Culture

Swiss

Department

Robert Lehman Collection

Credit line

Robert Lehman Collection, 1975