An antique German gold repoussé snuffbox with interior gouache miniature, retailed by Jahn & Bolin, St Petersburg c.1840
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Rectangular with waisted sides, the hinged lid designed with a chased mythological scene, the base decorated with scrolls and borders, to the interior a painted miniature under glass with a rococo couple and Cupid in a landscape. Apparently made in north Germany ca 1760. Retailed by Jahn & Bolin S.t Petersburg in an original fitted case marked 'Jahn & Bolin Joaillier de la Cour A St Petersbourg'. C. 1840. Height 2.7 cm. Width 4.7 cm. Length 5.9 cm. Weight (without glass) 64.1 g.
Provenance
W.A. Bolin Collection
Exhibitions
W.A. Bolin 200 years, 'Smycken & Silver för tsarer, drottningar och andra', Stockholm 1996,
catalogue no 22.
The Armoury Museum, the Kremlin, Moscow, 2001 ‘W.A. BOLIN Bolin in Russia Court jeweller
late XIX-early XX centuries’, catalogue no 117, p. 173.
Literature
Magdalena Ribbing et al., 'Jewellery & Silver - for Tsars, Queens, and Others, W.A. Bolin 200 Years', Västerås 1996, illustrated and mentioned at p. 21.
Ed. Christian Bolin, Pavel Bulatow, 'W.A. BOLIN Bolin in Russia Court jeweller late XIX-early XX centuries',
New Hermitage-one Moskva 2001, illustrated p. 173, catalogue no 117.
More information
The small miniature in gouache on the inside of the lid brings to mind the artist François Boucher's shepherd and shepherdess couple from the Rococo period. The pastoral scene with the couple in love fits nicely with the gold box's exterior decor and message of love.
