Snuffbox
Applied Arts
Inventory number
2020.10.16.16ac.AA.BX.C1777.FRAttribution:
Robert MUSSARD (Swiss, Geneva 1713 - 1777 Paris )Description
Round box in tortoiseshell, the edges are reinforced by a copper frame and the whole is embellished with a neoclassical decoration made by uncrustation of elements on gold. The lid is decorated with a miniature represented a portrait of a woman also surrounded by a copper frame.The portrait represents a woman dressed with a court dress and wearing a "pouf" haircut. This form of hairstyle was created by Jean-François AUTIER, known as "Léonard", the appointed hairdresser of Queen Marie-Antoinette. It was, Madame la Duchesse de Chartres, Louise-Marie-Adélaïde de BOURBON PENTHIEVRE, mother of the future King Louis-Philippe, who first displayed it in April 1774. An old paper, attributing this miniature to Robert MUSSARD is inside. It is therefore one of the last to have been executed by the miniaturist, since he died in 1777.
Materials
TortoiseshellWatercolor on ivory
Copper
Gold
Glass
Origin
circa 1777 Paris, FranceDimensions
Length : 6.5 cmHeight : 2 cm