Cleveland Museum of Art

Snuff Box (Tabatière)

François Chazeray

Date

1777–78

Medium

gold and enamel

Culture

France, 18th century (style of Louis XVI)

Department

Decorative Art and Design

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This box is decorated with figures of antiquity associated with love: winged cupids, dancing nymphs, and representations of the Greek goddess of love. These scenes are inspired by antique cameos, intricately carved gemstones crafted in ancient Greece and Rome. This interest in ancient iconography, symmetry, and classical compositions of gods and goddesses was characteristic of 18th-century neoclassicism. Decorated with allegorical scenes of love, it is likely that this box was a present between lovers.

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