A three-coloured gold and hardstone boite-à-miniatures, Pierre-Genest Leguérinière, Paris, 1778/1779
Estimate
20,000 - 30,000 EUR
Lot Details
Description
rectangular with cut corners, the lid inset with a portrait miniature of 'L'Accordée de Village' (1761), after Jean-Baptiste Greuze, painted on vellum, the sides and base similarly decorated with painted domestic scenes, among them La bonne éducation and La belle blanchisseuse after Greuze, within chased foliate gold borders on a sablé ground, the angles inset with small lapis lazuli plaques, rubbed maker's mark, charge and discharge marks of Jean-Baptiste Fouache, Paris date letter P for 1778, Paris petite garantie 1798-1809,
7,8 cm; 3 1/8 in. wide
overall weight 199 gr, 6,40 oz
Christie's Londres, 3 juillet 2019, lot 56
L'Accordée de Village (The Marriage Contract) by Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725–1805) was first exhibited in 1761 and now belongs to the collection of the Musée du Louvre (INV 5037). The work instantly drew significant attention attracting several admirers including Denis Diderot, who wrote extensively about the painting. It was once owned by the Marquis de Marigny before being acquired by Louis XVI in 1782.
The subject on the back panel of the box is taken from Greuze’s La bonne éducation, now in the British Museum, and the right side of the box features a scene from another Greuze-inspired engraving, La belle blanchisseuse.
For another snuff box by Pierre-Genest Leguérinière, now held in the Victoria and Albert Museum as part of the Gilbert Collection, see Charles Truman, The Gilbert Collection of Gold Boxes, vol. II, London, 1999, pp. 16–17.
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