Snuff Box (Tabatière) (Cleveland Museum of Art 1958.126)

The pastoral scenes that decorate this box are typical of the style of François Boucher, a celebrated painter of the period whose works were popularly reproduced on decorative arts. Snuff boxes, used practically as containers for powdered tobacco, were often decorated with miniature reproductions of notable works. The miniature on the cover is inspired by Boucher’s The Galant Pastor ( Le Pasteur Gallant ) (1738) and that on the bottom by The Amusement of the Shepherd Girl ( L’Amusement de la Bergère ) (1700s). Cleveland Museum of Art object 1958.126: Snuff Box (Tabatière), 1761–62. Francois Guillaume Tiron (French). Gold and enamel; overall: 2.9 x 4.2 cm (1 1/8 x 1 5/8 in.). Inscribed: [Maker's mark of Francois-Guillaume Tiron, master goldsmith in 1747, inside cover]; [Warden's mark, Paris, 1761-1762, inside cover]; [Charge mark of Eloi Brichard and Etienne Somfoye, Paris, 1756-1762, inside cover]; [Maker's mark of Francois-Guillaume Tiron, inside bottom]; [Warden's mark, 1761-1762, inside bottom]; [Charge mark of Brichard and Somfoye, inside bottom]; [Maker's mark of FG Tiron, left wall]; [Charge mark of Brichard and Somfoye, left wall]; [Warden's mark, Paris, 1761-1762, left wall]; [Discharge mark of J.J. Prevost, Paris, 1762-1768, bezel at right]; [Engraved number, maybe retailer's number]: "n. 13676". Details are those of this museum object; how far it represents a wider type has not been independently verified.