Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Gifts of Grandeur: A Chased Gold and Bloodstone Snuff Box, 1740



Snuff Box
French, 1740
The Victoria & Albert Museum
For some reason, I have selected things with “grapes” and "wine" for the day’s theme. I find this rather amusing since I'm teetotal. But, as always, this random selection of a theme has brought me to some really lovely things. Take this snuffbox, for example. 



Here, we see a pannier-shaped gold snuffbox which is really very fantastic. It is chased with birds, flowers, animals, shells, fruiting vines and baskets of grapes and other fruit and surmounted by a carved bloodstone. As a nifty little surprise, the interior of the lid is embellished with a polychrome miniature of a Bacchanalian festival. The miniature shows Bacchus, god of wine, surrounded by putti picking and eating an abundance of grapes. The pannier-shape of the box mimics the containers used to hold the grapes at the harvest.


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