Snuffbox with six allegories of love
1775–76
Medium
Gold, enamel; grisaille en camaïeu on ivory
Dimensions
box: 2-15/16 x 2-1/4 in. (7.5 x 5.7 cm); miniatures: top, oval, 1 1/8 x 1 5/8 in. (28 x 43 mm); bottom, oval, 1 1/8 x 1 5/8 in. (28 x 43 mm); front 1/2 x 1 1/8 in. (11 x 30 mm); back 1/2 x 1 1/8 in. (11 x 30 mm); left side 1/2 x 1 1/8 in. (11 x 30 mm); right side 1/2 x 1 1/8 in. (11 x 30 mm)
Classification
Metalwork-Gold and Platinum|Miniatures
Culture
French, Paris
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number
17.190.1169
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite snuffbox, crafted by Parisian goldsmith Jacques Joseph deault in 1775–76, exemplifies the opulent world of 18th-century French luxury goods. Snuffboxes like this one were essential accessories for the aristocracy, who carried finely powdered tobacco snuff as a fashionable social habit. Made of gold and adorned with enamel, the compact box (just under 3 inches long) features six miniature paintings on ivory panels covering the top, bottom, sides—each an oval allegory of love, evoking Cupids (infants), graceful women, and leafy trees in romantic, pastoral scenes. The artistic tec...
About the Artist
Jacques Joseph de Gault (French) · 1738 –1812
French, 1738–after 1812