Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Snuffbox with Mythological Scenes and Landscapes
(18th and 19th Centuries )
This oval box displays Rococo gold work in scrolls and floral motifs. On the cover is a scene of Venus asking Vulcan for weapons for Aeneas, which is signed by François Joseph Bourgoin, a noted enamelist who worked for King Louis XV during the 1760s. Decorating metal boxes in enamel paint is extremely difficult as after firing the enamel and the metal cool and change shape at different rates. In addition colored enamels change color on being heated, and must be applied in the correct order, so the artist needed a high degree of technical knowledge to achieve the desired finish.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Allègre Sale, Paris, 1872. Purchased (?) by Dreyfus de Gonzales; Sale, Paris, June 1 1896, no. 1. Purchased (?) by Martin Rikoff; Sale, Paris, December 4 1907, no. 176. Purchased (?) by George Harding, Paris; purchased by Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1914; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 3/17/1959 | Treatment | cleaned |
| 12/18/1986 | Examination | examined for condition |
| 12/18/1986 | Treatment | cleaned |
Geographies
France (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 1 3/8 x W: 2 1/8 in. (3.5 x 5.4 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1914
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.
57.153