Snuffbox
ca. 1800 (made), ca.1831 (enamelled)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Presentation gifts such as gold boxes were often adapted
when the gift was passed on. This box was probably a
Russian gift to a Sultan, which originally held a portrait of the Tsar. The Tsar was later replaced by a portrait of Mahmud II, when the latter gave the box to someone else, possibly a member of the Hohenzollern family. The base is painted with a view of the Rumeli Hisari fortress on the western shore of the Bosphorus in Istanbul. This box is attributed to Pierre-Etienne Théremin, who became a court jeweller to the empress in the closing years of the 18th century.
Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.
when the gift was passed on. This box was probably a
Russian gift to a Sultan, which originally held a portrait of the Tsar. The Tsar was later replaced by a portrait of Mahmud II, when the latter gave the box to someone else, possibly a member of the Hohenzollern family. The base is painted with a view of the Rumeli Hisari fortress on the western shore of the Bosphorus in Istanbul. This box is attributed to Pierre-Etienne Théremin, who became a court jeweller to the empress in the closing years of the 18th century.
Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Engine-turned gold, diamonds, enamel, glazed miniature |
| Brief description | Rectangular snuffbox with Mahmud II, Sultan of Turkey. Gold, diamonds, enamel, glazed miniature. Box: St. Petersburg, 1800, miniature: Constantinople, ca. 1831 |
| Physical description | A rectangular, jewelled, enamelled gold snuffbox with canted corners, the cover and walls profusely set with sprays of diamond foliage, the cover set with a glazed miniature of Mahmud II and the base with a painted scene of Rumeli Hisari on the Bosporous. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | No marks |
| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
| Object history | Provenance: Prince Oscar of Prussia, 1946. Princess Hohenzollern. S. J. Phillips, London, 1984. |
| Production | Miniature probably by Giovanni Marras (active 1801-30). |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Places depicted | |
| Summary | Presentation gifts such as gold boxes were often adapted when the gift was passed on. This box was probably a Russian gift to a Sultan, which originally held a portrait of the Tsar. The Tsar was later replaced by a portrait of Mahmud II, when the latter gave the box to someone else, possibly a member of the Hohenzollern family. The base is painted with a view of the Rumeli Hisari fortress on the western shore of the Bosphorus in Istanbul. This box is attributed to Pierre-Etienne Théremin, who became a court jeweller to the empress in the closing years of the 18th century. Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Other numbers |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | LOAN:GILBERT.348-2008 |
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| Record created | June 19, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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