Snuff Box (Tabatière) with Portrait of Marie Antoinette
Medium
watercolor on ivory in a gold and enamel box
Dimensions
3.9 × 6 cm, l. 8.2 cm · image: 3.4 × 2.9 cm
Classification
Enamel
Department
Decorative Art and Design
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Edward B. Greene
Accession Number
1957.408
Tags
About this artwork
This box was created through the collaboration of two skilled and well-known artisans of the period, master goldsmith Pierre-François-Mathis de Beaulieu and celebrated miniature painter François Dumont. The portrait of Marie Antoinette on the box's lid is painted in Dumont’s own style while those on the sides and bottom of the box take inspiration from the work of painter François Boucher, known for his pastoral scenes in the Rococo style.
About the Artist
Pierre-François-Mathis de Beaulieu (French)
Georges Hugnet (1906–1974) was a multifaceted French artist, poet, writer, and critic whose innovative collages and graphic works bridged Dada and Surrealism. Born in Paris on July 11, 1906, he spent much of his early childhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina, returning to France around 1913. His early life and artistic training remain sparsely documented, with no records of formal art school attendanc...