A two-colour gold and agate snuff box, Charles Ouizille, Paris, 1789-1793

rectangular with cut corners, the lid inset with a 'eye' agate medallion within a pattern of chased flowers and pellets on a sablé ground, the sides and base similarly decorated, within polished and acanthus-chased borders, the back of the 'eye' agate medallion visible from the interior of the lid within unusual chased and bright-cut ornament, maker's mark, Paris date letter, charge and discharge marks of J.F. Kalendrin (1789-1792), Paris petite recense 1798-1809, 1809-1819 and 1819-1838, the rim engraved 'Ouizille Btier du Roy, Paris', later French control mark (eagle's head) 

Famille de Montesquieu;
thence by descent

Marks legible, overall good quality, would benefit from professional cleaning, especially on polished gold borders.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Charles Ouizille became master in 1771, sponsored by Philippe-Antoine Magimel, at Quai des Orfèvres, where he stayed until 1813. Circa 1784 he became Bijoutier du Roi like the celebrated Parisian goldsmith Pierre-François Drais with whom he became partner in 1786. After the French Revolution, he became partner with Adrien-Jean-Maximilien Vachette, and received again the title of Bijoutier du Roi at the Restoration in 1816. In 1826, he was put in charge of the Crown Jewels as an inspector. He died in 1830 but his son Armand-Luc had already established a successful bijouterie called Ouizille-Lemoine, which provided the Court with sumptuous parures and military orders.

Charles Ouizille seems particularly to have mastered the production of gold boxes inset with agate camoes as was the fashion in the late 1780s (see Christie's Geneva, 11 May 1982, lot 184). He is also known to have provided Marie-Antoinette with a gold and agate casket, 1785, and another example is in the Louvre (see Grandjean, no. 170). For an agate and gold snuff box, maker's mark indistinct, Paris, 1779-1780, with a similar 'eye' agate medallion on the lid, see Christie's New York, 17 May 2011, lot 10.