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A gilt-metal-mounted oval snuff box, 19th century
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A gilt-metal-mounted oval snuff box, 19th century
Footnotes
Provenance:
Alfred Joseph Collection, no label
Literature:
Beaucamp-Markowsky 1985, no. 96;
Beaucamp-Markowsky 1988, no. 31
Exhibited:
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, 1972-2003;
London, Gilbert Collection, Somerset House, 2003-2008;
Barnard Castle, Co. Durham, The Bowes Museum, 2008-2010
The grotesque dwarves on this box were taken after the famous series of 21 engravings by Jacques (or Giacomo) Callot (1592-1635) printed in circa 1616. The prints after the engravings quickly started circulating in France and Germany, and dwarves or 'Gobbi' as they were known in Italy started appearing in various guises. Baroque pearls embellished with enamel limbs and heads can be found in the Grünes Gewölbe in Dresden, and factories around Europe, from Chelsea to Cozzi, adapted the prints into three-dimentional figures. They are very rare on 18th century porcelain. For further reading on the subject of dwarves decorated on Meissen porcelain see Keramos 119 for an article by T.H. Clarke, pp. 6-57.
