Snuff Box (Tabatière) (Cleveland Museum of Art 1958.123)
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1768–69; 1776–78
Snuff boxes were highly ornamented functional objects popular among French social elites. They were simultaneously containers for powdered tobacco and a means to communicate social and political status. Often decorated with miniature paintings inspired by popular paintings of the time, the works reproduced on this box are modeled after those of Claude-Joseph Vernet (cover and front panel) and David Teniers the Younger (base, side, and back panels). Cleveland Museum of Art object 1958.123: Snuff Box (Tabatière), 1768–78. Pierre-Nicholas Pleyard (French). Gouache miniatures mounted on gold; overall: 2.6 x 5.3 cm (1 x 2 1/16 in.). Details are those of this museum object; how far it represents a wider type has not been independently verified.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 4
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Historical context
These miniature paintings are mounted à cage , a practice popular in the mid-1700s that involved setting decorated panels into gold frames to create a box’s walls.
Physical characteristics
- Materials
- gouache miniatures mounted on gold
- Dimensions
- Overall: 2.6 x 5.3 cm (1 x 2 1/16 in.)
- Measurements
- Overall: 2.6 x 5.3 cm (1 x 2 1/16 in.)
- Material and technique
- gouache miniatures mounted on gold
Identification
- Date recorded
- 1768–78
- Culture period
- France
- Maker recorded
- Pierre-Nicholas Pleyard (French)
- Museum attribution
- Pierre-Nicholas Pleyard (French)
- Holding institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Museum object number
- 1958.123
- Museum classification
- Metalwork
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: this record describes a single museum object; confirm maker, marks and date against decorative-arts references.