Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Gifts of Grandeur: The Three Nymphs Snuffbox, 1747

The V&A
Snuffbox
Gold inset with a glass-covered miniature
French, 1747
The Victoria & Albert Museum



From the Gilbert Collection at the V&A, we have this rectangular gold snuffbox, with concave walls.  The interior of the lid is set with a miniature painted in oils on wood, set under glass (curiously mounted on an Eighteenth Century playing card for support).  The painting depicts three nymphs and a pair of doves in the manner of the famed painter Jacques Charlier.  While an exact attribution is impossible, some feel the painting is not only after Charlier, but actually by Charlier himself.  Made in Paris, it dates to about 1747.






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