Cleveland Museum of Art

Snuff Box (Tabatière)

Charles Le Bastier

Date

1777–78

Medium

gold and enamel

Culture

France, 18th century

Department

Decorative Art and Design

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This box’s black and white design imitates a rare type of agate patterned with black veins that look like the branches of a tree or aquatic plant. Enamel that simulated agate was popular around 1775–80, evoking an 18th-century French interest in natural curiosities, mineralogy, and botany. Charles Le Bastier himself made at least seven boxes using this motif between 1775 and 1779. Not only did the design of a snuff box carry important social and political implications, proper snuff taking etiquette, outlined in 18th-century publications, also communicated status.

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