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A Nymphenburg gilt-metal-mounted oval portrait snuff box, circa 1770 image 1
A Nymphenburg gilt-metal-mounted oval portrait snuff box, circa 1770 image 2
A Nymphenburg gilt-metal-mounted oval portrait snuff box, circa 1770 image 3
Lot 31

A Nymphenburg gilt-metal-mounted oval portrait snuff box, circa 1770

5 July 2011, 10:30 BST
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £7,200 inc. premium

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A Nymphenburg gilt-metal-mounted oval portrait snuff box, circa 1770

In the white, the cover with a relief biscuit porcelain profile portrait of the Elector Maximilian III Joseph of Bavaria facing dexter, modelled by Dominikus Auliczek, within a moulded oval medallion edged with berries and leaves and foliage, and an entwined ribbon border around the edge, the sides moulded with floral swags above a similar border, a similar border around the edge of the base, wavy gilt-metal mounts, 9.5cm across, impressed shield mark to inside of box (minute restored chip underneath footrim)

Footnotes

Provenance:
Anon. sale, Sotheby's London, 25 June 1985, lot 165

Literature:
Beaucamp-Markowsky 1988, no. 63

Exhibited:
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, 1985-2003;
London, Gilbert Collection, Somerset House, 2003-2008;
Barnard Castle, Co. Durham, The Bowes Museum, 2008-2010

The Elector is depicted in a cuirass, wearing the Order of the Golden fleece and the sash of the Bavarian Order of St. George. The model was created by Dominikus Auliczek the Elder, who was the master modeller at Nymphenburg between 1763 and 1772, after a medallion by Franz Andreas Schega of 1759 comemorating the founding of the Academy of Sciences.The portrait of the Elector repeats an earlier likeness modelled by Auliczek around 1770 for use on porcelain medallions. A coloured example of this box is in the Bäuml Collection, Munich, for which see Ziffer 1997, no. 730.

Maximilian III Joseph (1727-1777) was the eldest son of Emperor Charles VII and his wife Marie Amalie, Archduchess of Austria. He was to be the last of the junior branch of the Wittelsbach dynasty, which descended from the Holy Roman Emperor, Louis IV, and had ruled Bavaria since early 14th century. He has been characterised as a progressive and enlightened ruler. During his reign he did much to improve the development of his country, founding institutions such as Munich's first academic institution, the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, in 1759. Maximilian also had a strong sense of ornament and it took him 20 years to form his famous collection of diamond buttons.

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