Jean I Pénicaud, Christ Blessing
the Virgin in Prayer, c. 1480.

Painted enamel on copper, 33 x 24.5 cm

(each plaque). Musée de Cluny, Paris.

 

 

Boxes of various kinds. Here we will include articles in all sorts of materials: soft and hard porcelains, Dresden enamels, Japanese lacquer, carved ivory, melted tortoise shell, etc. Were we to divide them all into as many classes as there are styles, we should have to multiply our descriptions indefinitely. Suffice it to say that in this heterogeneous mass, experts may find specimens most interesting for the history of the art. Europe, in her search for a fine white pottery analogous to that of the Chinese, made these trials in small pieces of workmanship, of which the encyclopaedias speak with contempt; but the cane-handles, the corbin beaks, and the snuff boxes, to which they refused the name of porcelain, give us precise proof of the efforts and genius of our ancestors. Rouen, Saint-Cloud, Chantilly, and Mennecy reveal themselves to us by the most charming compositions; Dresden and Capo di Monte offer us examples of perfection and taste which we seek in vain in the great vases. The mountings, more or less rich, of these specimens have fortunately rescued them from neglect and destruction. We also owe the preservation of precious Oriental works of this sort and Indian betel-boxes converted into snuff boxes to the value of their mountings, which would have otherwise perished with the fashion boxes. Despite the science, snuff was received by the great and, naturally, it was necessary that the recipients store it in luxury objects. Furthermore, fashion rendered it compulsory that people, whether they used snuff or not, should have boxes for every season. The rage went even further and required that the box should be changed every day; the more refined carried several on their person at a time.

We should not neglect to alert wise antique collectors that the 18th century and its loose morals gave artists the idea to paint numerous erotic scenes inspired by mythology or secret literature of the time. Yet people who liked these works had sufficient modesty not to publicly disclose their taste and thus hid such art work in the double bottom of the snuff box; the enamel or miniature was well hidden from general view. From the outside, the box has a very innocent appearance: its paintings are continent, chaste, and of the best style. But if we touched a spring mechanism, hidden in the mount, the cover painting or bottom of the box would lift up and show things which would hardly be tolerable in the Naples secret museum next to the bronzes of Capri. Can we say that among the double-bottomed snuff boxes, some were innocent? No, that would not be the right word, though some of them were not offensive. We saw the charming image of a beloved lady who did not want to compromise her reputation.

We will not attempt to give an idea of the form of the boxes; it depended in great measure on their destination. The candy dishes were predominantly circular with rounded surfaces; the patch boxes[15], smaller and also circular, had a flat top. As to snuff boxes, those with twisted contours and sharp points are almost all of the Louis XV period. Under Louis XVI, the oval or rectangle with cut corners prevailed, but in many conceptions and varieties. One soon realises that the shape is only one of the elements of a reliable determination of the period and style.