French, Paris, circa 1670, the case attributed to Gilles Légaré (1610-1685) | Monogrammed Locket with a portrait miniature of a young lady

Bernice and Jerome Zwanger, New York;
with D. S. Lavender Ltd, London

This fine miniature case survives in remarkable condition, having been protected by its original leather box. Its beautifully painted decoration can be attributed to the French enameller Gilles Légaré, who served as royal goldsmith to Louis XIV and published designs in the Livre des Ouvrages d'Orfevrerie of 1663. The frame of the miniature portrait of the Countess of Olonne by Petitot in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which is attributed to Légaré, shows a border of flowers on its reverse that is closely comparable with the present work. A miniature case sold as part of the Pohl-Ströher collection at Sotheby's London on 6 December 2018 as lot 32, there catalogued as French, 1660s, exhibits a similar overall design and ropework borders.

RELATED LITERATURE
J. Evans, 'Gilles Légaré and his work', in Burlington Magazine, vol. 30, no. 169, 1917, pp. 140-145; J. Evans, A History of Jewellery, 1100-1870, London, 1953, pp. 139-141; D. Scarisbrick, Portrait Jewels: Opulence and Intimacy from the Medici to the Romanovs, London, 2011, pp. 142-143