Bonhams 1793 : A Meissen gilt metal-mounted snuffbox cover, circa 1764

Superbly painted by Johann Jacob Wagner after Rosalba Carriera with a half-length portrait of a lady holding a small dog in a yellow dress, the reverse finely painted in sepia against a pale-pink background with a scene depicting Apollo and Daphne, the later gilt-metal mount with flowers and foliate scrolls and a loop for hanging, 13.5cm overall

Sold for £5,625 inc. premium

Footnotes

Provenance:
Anon. sale, Christie's London, 31 March 2008, lot 236

Literature:
Ulrich Pietsch, Passion for Meissen (2010), no. 128

The Venetian artist Rosalba Carriera (1675-1757) was much admired in European courts for her portraits, which were collected by both Augustus the Strong and Augustus III. In 1764-65 Wagner painted several snuff box covers with portraits after Rosalba Carriera including, in October 1764, '1 Tabattiere Deckel mit Portrait mit Canisis nach der Rosalba' [1 tobacco box cover with a portrait with dog after Rosalba]. The actual pastel that Wagner copied, "Signora con Cagnolino" belonged to the historic collection of the Gemäldegalerie Dresden, but has been missing since the end of the Second World War.

Johann Jacob Wagner (1709/10-1797) was employed at the Meissen manufactory in December 1738. He was one of the most talented painters at Meissen and qiickly specialised in miniature painting and snuff boxes. His particular talent for portrait painting was mentioned by J.G. Höroldt in 1749 (R. Rückert, Bibliographiesche Daten der Meissener Manufakturisten des 18. Jahrhunderts (1990), p. 290). A Meissen snuff box with a portrait by Wagner of the King of Poland, Stanislaw Augustus II Poniatowski, was sold in these Rooms from the Helmut Joseph Collection, 5 July 2011, lot 15.

Category: Decorative Arts / European Ceramics

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