Tobacco Grater with Pilgrims of Cythera

On the front, Cupid leads a couple of "pilgrims of love" to the seashore, where they will embark for the island of Cythera that, according to mythology, is dedicated to Venus. The lady carries a staff and a shell, pinned to her cape are hearts (or perhaps shells) pierced by crossed arrows. A similar emblem appears on her hat. Her companion holds a flask. On the flaps of his cape are emblems of love: crossed torches and flaming hearts. The source for this composition is probably Bernard Picart's well-known engraving of 1780, "Pelerins de l'Isle de Cythere." The lower zone of the panel is a scallop shell, above which is a satyr's mask crowned and surrounded by grape vines. At the top is the remains of a small shell shaped piece of ivory that originally served for spooning snuff. Along the jagged edge of the bottom is a screw-hole for the attachment of a small ivory box for grated snuff. The back of the object is fitted with grooves to accommodate the metal grater used for pulverizing tobacco for smoking. The "Embarkation for Cythera" scene, shown in reverse and differing in details, appears on tobaaco graters in the Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg (no. 159) and the Musee de Dieppe.

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.

[Paris]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1925, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.