OVAL BOX WITH EMBLEMATIC SCENE

Creator(s): Unknown (Silversmith)

About this object

On the front of this oval box with a hinged cover is a push button connected to a mechanism opening the box. There is a large and somewhat ungainly iron hinge that can be used to padlock the box. Most of the top is covered with a scene of a woman in formal eighteenth-century costume standing in an arched doorway or entrance to an arcade (a tree appears to grow in a courtyard behind the woman). A mounted officer wearing a uniform and tricorn hat rides away to the right. On the roof of the house is a heavily smoking chimney. A large eagle facing right and an amour with bow and arrow hover over the arched structure under which the woman stands. The façade is relieved with two glazed windows and an arched doorway. The scene is framed with interlaced ribbon and a garland of laurel leaves. The sides are ornamented with musical trophies (on the left) and symbols of the arts (on the right) alternating large and small clusters of flowers with swags of leaves in between. The top of the box is decorated with the same border ornament that frames the cover scene and the lower edge of the base is decorated with a braided band. On the underside is a cluster of three flowers framed by a ribbon border. The background of the underside is engraved with ribbing and gilded.

Object name:

OVAL BOX WITH EMBLEMATIC SCENE

Made from:

Silver gilt -- iron -- niello

Made in:

Russia

Date made:

late 18th Century

Size:

4.8 × 11.4 × 8.6 cm (1 7/8 × 4 1/2 × 3 3/8 in.)

Detailed information for this item

Catalog number:

13.10

Class:

NIELLO

Signature marks:

MARKS [Hallmarks are badly rubbed and illegible.]

Credit line:

Bequest of Marjorie Merriweather Post, 1973