A gold and amber snuff box, Jean-François Breton, Paris, 1766/1767

Lempertz Cologne, 18-19 Octobre 2006;

Christie's Londres, 26 novembre 2014, lot 215 (Property from a European Private Collector)

Jean-François Breton (or Lebreton) was apprenticed at the age of 14 to Etienne Pollet, 'marchand orfèvre joaillier', and became master in 1737, sponsored also by Pollet. In 1769, he moved from the rue de la Fromagerie to the quai des Morfondus (the future quai de l’Horloge) where he is last recorded in 1791. He was evidently a man of substance, presenting quantities of gold for assay and several times appointed an officer of the goldsmiths' guild. The boxes he produced over the years are always of excellent quality, particularly in the earlier years. When the box was sold at Christie's in 2014, the maker was said to be Jean-Baptiste Bertin, however the maker's mark is indeed that of Jean-François Breton (JFB a star différent). Further confirmation is given by the existence of two other almost identical boxes of amber with gold cagework by Breton. The first, also of 1766, was set with a miniature, by François Dumont, of Queen Marie Antoinette and reputed at one time to have belonged to Empress Eugenie of France (sold Sotheby's, Geneva, 12 November 1980, lot 91). The second, and even more similar box, the lid centred with a gold plaque chased with a putto among ruins, with date letter for 1767, was sold, Bonhams, 8 July 2009, lot 2. It is evident therefore that these boxes were Breton’s fashionable 'novelty' for 1766/7.