Snuff box, micromosaic decorated, Rome, 1800
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
ca. 1800
The motif of the Roman micromosaic plaque on this box is inspired by ancient Roman wall decorations from the first century AD that were discovered at Pompeii and Herculaneum in the eighteenth century. Both towns were destroyed by the eruption Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD and buried under ash and pumice. Herculaneum was excavated from 1738, while Pompeii was rediscovered on a larger scale in 1748.
These excavations offered an unrivalled glimpse into Roman everyday life in the 1st century AD. Their artefacts and wall decorations were studied, copied and published by artists and scholars such as Giovanni Battista Piranesi, and thus contributed to the emergence of the neoclassical style. The composition of a tripod flanked by two further objects was popular on small circular micromosaic plaques for a period of circa twenty years from the late eighteenth century onwards. Numerous examples of various degrees of quality, but similar dimensions, survive and reflect the hunger of the neoclassical period for design inspired by antiquity across society.
Such plaques would typically be set in circular boxes, also known as bonbonnières, such is this. A circular gold and tortoiseshell box, the cover set with a micromosaic still life of a two-handled vase, a tripod with cauldron and a box with its lid partially open, with a border of a Greek key pattern; mosaic is held in place by gold band, Rome, late 18th century
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- 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
Provenance: Hoffman and Lowe, Beverly Hills, 1972. Micromosaics The discovery of the Doves of Pliny , an ancient mosaic described by ancient Roman author Pliny the Younger as the ultimate example of illusionism in the field of mosaics, in 1737, might have triggered the interest among Roman mosaicists to create ever more painterly mosaics with ever smaller pieces.
By 1800 such micromosaics became particularly fashionable as a technique that expressed neoclassical taste even in the very choice of its medium. Their portability made them the perfect souvenir to take back from Rome. The Motif: Tripods from Antiquity to Neoclassicism A tripod holding a cauldron could be used to warm water or as brazier.
In ancient Greece and subsequently in the Roman Empire tripods were also used in a ritualistic way: Ancient authors like Homer or Virgil describe that they were given as rewards to brave soldiers or as prizes to athletes and performers. They were prestigious gifts and sacrificial objects. Tripods were associated in particular with the cult of the god Apoll and the Oracle of Delphi.
This religious dimension in combination with the discovery of actual ancient metal tripods and their depictions in the eighteenth century led to the popularity of the tripod as both motif and actual object in the neoclassical period. The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection
Sir Arthur Gilbert (1913-2001) and his first wife Rosalinde (1913-1995) formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert moved his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996, since 2008 it has been on long-term loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Physical characteristics
- Material
- Micromosaic, tortoiseshell and gold
- Dimensions
- Diameter: 7.8 cm; Height: 1.2 cm
Technical characteristics
- Place recorded
- Rome
Identification
- Source note
- Transcribed from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London collection record for this single object (sentences kept verbatim apart from removed sale or rarity wording); how far it represents a wider collectible type has not been independently verified.
- Candidate id
- vam-O157736
- Museum object name
- Snuffbox
- Holding institution
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Museum object number
- LOAN:GILBERT.937:1-2008
- Museum system number
- O157736
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: confirm the wider type, maker and dating against a specialist reference; this entry documents one recorded example.