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A German gold, enamel and diamond snuff box, the enamels attributed to Isaak Jacob Clauce [Clause], Berlin, circa 1750-60
Estimate
100,000 - 200,000 USD
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Description
- apparently unmarked
- Gold, diamond, enamel
- length 3 1/8 in., depth 2 3/8 in., height 1 5/8 in.
- 8cm, 6cm, 4cm
rectangular, all surfaces enameled en plein with rustic scenes: the cover with a couple dancing to a fiddler, the front with figures around a wine barrel, one end with a sleeping shepherd, the other with a traveller, the back with figures sorting fish at the coast, the base with a group with a basket at the riverside, the scenes enclosed in chased cartouches with bouquets and trellises, thumbpiece formed as a spreading floral arrangement of graduated diamonds, the interior fitted with a miniature after Nattier
Provenance
George Blumenthal, Paris, 1930
Mrs. Elizabeth Parke Firestone, Detroit and Newport
Christies, New York, The Elizabeth Parke Firestone Collection of Important Gold Boxes and Objects of Vertu, November, 19, 1982, lot 42
Mrs. Elizabeth Parke Firestone, Detroit and Newport
Christies, New York, The Elizabeth Parke Firestone Collection of Important Gold Boxes and Objects of Vertu, November, 19, 1982, lot 42
Literature
Charles Truman, The Wallace Collection, Catalogue of Gold Boxes, 2013, pp. 287-290, no. 84, illus.
Condition
minor chips to blue enamel surround throughout, surface scratches to base, the back with slight crazing, the front with restoration to right side of scene, miniature good condition
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
This box is discussed by Charles Truman in his catalogue of the Wallace Collection boxes, where it is compared to a box enamelled with scenes from Gerusalemme Liberata by Torquato Tasso, no. 84 in that collection. The enamelling of both boxes has been attributed by Drs. Winfried and Ilse Baer to Isaak Jacob Clauce [Clause], the son of a goldsmith from Metz, who trained in Augsburg before moving to Meissen and then to Berlin.
Truman refers to another box in the Waddesdon Manor collection, which is possibly by the same hand (Waddesdon, 1975, pp. 118-19, no. 54).
The miniature represents the Duchesse de Chartres as Hebe, a horizontal version of the vertical portrait by Nattier and studio in the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, dated 1744.