Bonbonnière with Pastoral Scene
Both the lid and container of this bonbonnière, or sweet-meat container, have central circular fields and radiating panels carved in relief. On the cover, a seated nude woman caresses a dog; on the container itself, a shepherd holding a crook pats his dog. The shallowly and rather summarily rendered radiating panels show vignettes with shepherds, shepherdesses, watchdogs, and sheep. A narrow frieze running around the side of the container illustrates a boar hunt.
The two sections of the bonbonnière are attached by a gilt-metal hinge. A hole in the rim opposite the hinge indicates that the box may also have had a metal clasp.
Incised and blackened in the inside of the container is an owner's monogram, MT. The cover bears a paper label: MACKAY & CHISHOLM/GOLSMITHS./57 Princess Street/EDINBURGH.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Owned by Mackay and Chisholm, Edinburgh; purchased by Henry Walters, Baltimore; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Conservation
Date | Description | Narrative |
---|---|---|
1/11/1962 | Treatment | cleaned |
Geographies
France, Dieppe (Place of Origin)
Measurements
W: 2 5/8 × D: 1 11/16 in. (6.7 × 4.3 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.
71.449