Snuff box in Meissen manner

October 2011

Taking a pinch is a culture that is surrounded with greater luxury than pipe smoking. Especially in the eighteenth century, unreal chic objects were created for this use. The countless golden boxes, whether or not inlaid with precious stones, are to be found in royal collections all over the world. The illustrated box is an example in the category of porcelain boxes, which were made in the best factories in ever-changing styles. The porcelain of this square box shows a subtle relief work in which cartouches of feather shaped scrolls separate a roughened surface from the smooth part that is meant to be painted. This subtle relief is the example for the painters who later coloured the box. Along the edges of the mounting, which enable a hinged lid, scaled leaves are paintedin a fashionable purple colour. The main illustration is in the cartouche on the lid and shows a man and a woman in a garden landscape. If you look closely at this box, you will soon discover that it is not really the fineness of Meissen painting. The paintwork lacks the details and is a bit lumpy. The slightly changed underglaze mark is also not characteristic of Meissen, where every sword in the mark has its own line. Here the two swords must share one simple line. Finally, the porcelain is slightly heavier in design and sloppy in the relief work. Nevertheless, this object is an interesting example of a snuff box that, as a matter of fact, will have served primarily for the show.

Amsterdam Pipe Museum APM 20.870

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