A SMALL GOLD AND ENAMEL DOUBLE-OPENING SNUFF BOX, AYMÉ-ANTOINE CHOLLET, PARIS, 1757 | A small gold and enamel double-opening snuff box, Aymé-Antoine Chollet, Paris, 1757

rectangular, opening top and bottom, decorated in blue, green and russet basse-taille enamels, both lids with trophies of music and gardening, the sides with flower clusters, within entwined leafy garlands and ribbons on a textured sunray-engraved ground, maker's mark, charge marks of Eloi Brichard, Paris date letter R, the right rim struck with export counter mark of Julien Alaterre, export countermark of Julien Alaterre apparently overstriking the earlier discharge mark

Private collection, New York (1966)

A. Kenneth Snowman, Gold Boxes of Europe, London, 1966, pl. 282; 
A. Kenneth Snowman, Eighteenth Century Gold Boxes of Europe, Woodbridge, 1990, p. 179, pl. 352

Overall good condition; a few traces of old restoration to the enamel, small losses to blue enamel in a few places
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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."

The Paris hôpital de la Trinité in the rue St Denis had developed by the sixteenth century into virtually the first specialised training establishment for arts and crafts. Its initial responsibility for the care of orphans and children in peril had become more structured as it prepared children for a métier with education and apprenticeships. The Trinité was allowed to nominate one candidate per year for mastership in each of the official Parisian trades. Aymé-Antoine Chollet was admitted to the Trinité in 1755 and registered his maker’s mark (EAC, a triangle) the following year when a place became available, the numbers being strictly limited. He registered a new mark (AAC, a cockerel) with the Goldsmiths’ Guild in 1764. Chollet acted as warden of the Guild in 1768/9 and grand warden in 1782/3. He was recorded in the Almanach at the sign of the ‘Château de Namur’ on the pont Notre-Dame, ‘pour le bijou d’or’ in 1776 and continued at various addresses until 1791. There is some uncertainty about Chollet’s first maker’s mark which has been clearly explained by Charles Truman in his description of the well-known gold and enamel box of 1756 in the form of a chaise percée in the Wallace Collection, which is attributed to Chollet and appears to be struck with the same maker’s mark as that on the current box. In both cases, the mark is AAC not EAC with an unidentifiable diférent between. As Truman puts it ‘although the device does not appear to be a triangle, it would be unwise to identify it firmly as a cockerel. However, it seems unreasonable to assume that this is not Chollet’s mark since no other goldsmith had registered the initials AAC at this date’ (The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Gold Boxes, London, 2013, no. 13, p. 92). Truman suggests that the clerk recording the first mark may have misheard Chollet’s pronunciation of his name since neither of his initials is ‘E’ and the fact that a new mark was entered in 1764 was intended to regularise the situation.