A SWISS VARI-COLOUR GOLD BOÎTE-À-MINIATURES

细节

A SWISS VARI-COLOUR GOLD BOÎTE-À-MINIATURES
CIRCA 1780, BEARING PRESTIGE MARKS INCLUDING A DATE-LETTER CROWNED "O" AND A MAKER'S MARK "NCQ", THE MINIATURES BY PIERRE-VICTOR-NICOLAS DE MALLIÉE, ONE SIGNED AND DATED 1775

Rectangular box with canted corners, the cover, sides, corners and base inset with fixé-sous-verre miniatures depicting scenes from the ballet "Médée" and with trophies of Music and Theatre in the corners, the three-colour gold cagework chased with a laurel border and floral swags on a matted ground, the dividing wall pilasters with engraved acanthus, damaged
72 mm. wide

拍品专文

Pierre-Victor-Nicolas de Malliée (fl. 1748-1785) specialised in landscapes "peints à la manière éludorique" or "fixés-sous-verre" invented by Armand Vincent de Montpetit. This complex technique consisted in painting in oil colours on taffeta or fine silk and attaching the painting under the protecting glass with the help of a translucent glue covering the oil-painted surface of the picture.
A gold snuff-box by Jean-Marie Tiron, of 1764/1765, with extremely similar miniatures by Malliée, also signed and dated 1775, is illustrated and extensively discussed in Serge Grandjean et alii, The James A. de Rotschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor. Gold Boxes and Miniatures of the Eighteenth Century, Fribourg, 1975, no. 85, pp. 171-173. Whereas the cover and base, front and rear sides are identical on both boxes, the right and left hand sides depict different scenes from the ballet Médée.