Cleveland Museum of Art

Snuff Box (Tabatière)

Chantilly Porcelain Factory

Date

c. 1745–1750

Medium

Tin-glazed soft-paste porcelain with enamel decoration; gilded metal

Culture

France, 18th century

Department

Decorative Art and Design

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This snuff box’s decoration departs from the practice of early Chantilly porcelain that drew inspiration from Chinese and Japanese porcelain compositions, techniques, and motifs. Rather than compositions modeled directly from East-Asian porcelain, the paintings on this box may have been influenced by European chinoiserie, imitations of Chinese and Japanese decoration that pulled from the European imagination rather than accurate depictions of these cultures. The enamels on this box are no longer applied flat without shading as was typical of early production at the Chantilly factory, but have been painted in a way that suggests depth through depictions of light and shadow.

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