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Bonbonnière
(18th and 19th Centuries )
Kings and Queens would often present small gold boxes to ambassadors as diplomatic gifts and to courtiers as payment for services. Made of a variety of precious materials – including gold, enamel, semiprecious stones, lacquer, and tortoiseshell – and designed for a variety of uses – ranging from storing snuff to confections - valuable boxes were coveted and enthusiastically collected. Displaying one’s collection of prized boxes or stylishly retrieving one from a pocket were important social rituals; these objects revealed a person’s tastes, interests, and erudition. It is likely that this box was designed to be a bonboninere, or box for sweets.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Acquired by Henry Walters, Baltimore (date and mode unknown); by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 9/8/1958 | Treatment | cleaned |
Geographies
France, Paris (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 1 x Diam: 2 15/16 in. (2.5 x 7.5 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
57.121