234,500 CHF
The Virtues of Perfect GovernanceIsâac Daniel Piguet, Geneva, No. 14, casemaker's mark coronet above M incuse, possibly Jaques Moulinie, circa 1811.Magnificent and very rare 18 ct. gold and enamel, pearl-set snuffbox with music, automaton and watch, with visible balance and concealed erotic scene. Five-body, rectangular, divided into three parts, central panel with rounded sides, in the centre a very fine painted enamel allegory of the virtues of perfect governance after the painter Eustache Le Sueur (1616-1655). It depicts Prudence (with the mirror), Wisdom and Virtue. It has a pearl-set border, as do the two spring-loaded panels flanking it, with the Muse of Music and the Muse of Literature painted in grisaille within navette-shaped panels surrounded by translucent blue enamel. Whenpened, they reveal respectively a watch and an automaton. The back centre panel finely painted with a harpist playing for a maiden in the woods, who motions to him to keep a secret. It opens to reveal another, more intimate, scene with a newlywed couple. The flanking and side panels are in translucent imperial blue and black enamel over engine-turning.The side panels and base panels flanking the painting are in translucent dark blue enamel over engine turning and a black painted zig-zag pattern. Notes This box is published in 'Le Monde des Automates', Alfred Chapuis and Edouard Gelis, Paris, Volume II., page 47.The beauty and delicacy of the finely painted erotic scene puts us in mind of
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2001-03-31
