A SWISS ENAMELLED GOLD SNUFF-BOX

细节

A SWISS ENAMELLED GOLD SNUFF-BOX
ATTRIBUTED TO JEAN-GEORGES RÉMOND, MAKER'S MARK IN A LOZENGE RUBBED, GENEVA, CIRCA 1800

Oblong rectangular box, the cover inset with an enamel plaque depicting Telemachus and Calypso, on a matted gold panel chased with foliage, scrolls, a basket of flowers and a vase, framed by a band of blue enamel, the sides and base enamelled in translucent grey-blue and black on a guilloché ground, the base panel engine-turned with a pattern of stylized scallop shells within trelliswork, framed by stylized engraved gold leaves alternating with blue, black and white enamelled arches and flowerheads, the corners of the sides similarly decorated
92 mm. wide

拍品专文

François de la Mothe-Fénélon's romance Les aventures de Télémaque, published in 1699, was fashionable in French-speaking Europe throughout the entire 18th Century. Based on Homer's Odyssey, Les aventures de Télémaque relates how Telemachus, searching for his father Odysseus, is shipwrecked on the island of the goddess Calypso. The present miniature depicts the scene when Calypso, in love with Telemachus, tries to detain him in her grotto by persuading him to relate his previous adventures. The bearded old man on the right hand side is the goddess Minerva, the protector of Telemachus, disguised as his old guardian Mentor.
The present scene is inspired by Jean-Baptiste Tilliard's engraving after Charles Monnet's drawing, first published in 1773 and illustrated in a Paris edition of 1785.
For an identical scene of Telemachus and Calypso, see lot 124.