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A gilt-metal-mounted oval snuff box, 19th century image 1
A gilt-metal-mounted oval snuff box, 19th century image 2
A gilt-metal-mounted oval snuff box, 19th century image 3
A gilt-metal-mounted oval snuff box, 19th century image 4
Lot 73

A gilt-metal-mounted oval snuff box, 19th century

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

Sold for £3,600 inc. premium

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A gilt-metal-mounted oval snuff box, 19th century

Decorated with scenes after Jacques Callot, two grotesque dwarves per side standing on the back, front, cover and inside of the cover, all standing on a grassy base, 7.5cm wide,

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.

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