Souvenir
Medium
Gold, enamel, diamonds
Dimensions
3 1/4 × 2 1/8 in. (8.3 × 5.4 cm)
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
17.190.1246a–c
Tags
Art Historical Context
Crafted in 1781 by Parisian goldsmith Joseph Étienne Blerzy, *Souvenir* is a miniature masterpiece from the twilight of France's Ancien Régime. This diminutive jewel, measuring just 3¼ × 2⅛ inches, gleams with gold, translucent enamel, and sparkling diamonds. Its painted enamel scene captures an intimate moment: elegant women absorbed in reading, playfully interrupted by the mischievous Cupid, evoking of love, leisure, and Enlightenment-era intellectual pursuits among the aristocracy. Blerzy, renowned for his opulent snuffboxes and chatelaines, masterfully employed *grand feu* enamel techniqu...