Important yellow gold and enamel box, set with a medal depic - Lot 274

Lot n° 274
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Estimation :
13000 - 15000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 40 761EUR
Important yellow gold and enamel box, set with a medal depic - Lot 274
Important yellow gold and enamel box, set with a medal depicting Catherine II of Russia, rectangular with cut sides, with guilloche motifs in translucent royal blue enamel, the frame adorned with green and gold foliate and floral motifs, the sides adorned with vases ; the center adorned with a medal depicting Catherine II in bust to the right, wearing a crown of laurel leaves, with the inscription Б М ЕКАTЕPИНА II IМПЕPАTИЦA И CАМOДЕPЖИЦA ВCЕPOCC., transl. "By the grace of God, Catherine II empress and autocrat of all the Russias"; under the bust, signed: C.L.F; reverse with inscription COC ДCTВЕННЫЙ И В ЧНЫЙ, transl. "Voisin et perpétuel"; in the center a laurel sprig passed through a wreath; in the exergue: МИPЪ CЪ ШВЕЦIЕЮ ЗАКΛЮ / ЧЕНЪ З АВГУCTА / 1790 ГOДА.., trad. "Paix avec la Suède conclue le 3 août 1790"; on the far right, signed: Б., the edge of the box signed "Les frères theremin a St: petersb:" and stamped with the inventory number "285", in a shaped case. Goldsmiths: Frères THÉREMIN, Master assayer: Nikifor MOSCHTJALKIN. Medal signed C.L.F for Carl LEBERECH. St. Petersburg, 1796. (The medal probably sawed in two, small enamel chips, wear, scratches). Height 2 cm; Width: 9.8 cm; Depth: 6.7 cm; Gross weight: 233 g. The gold box under Catherine II: foreign goldsmiths and French taste at the Russian court. Catherine II of Russia, also known as Catherine the Great, was empress from 1762 to 1796. She modernized the country, expanded its territory and encouraged Enlightenment ideas, while maintaining a strong autocratic power. Her reign was distinguished by a great cultural boom, major administrative reforms and territorial expansion to the West and South. Under her influence, French taste and fashions took hold at court. In this context, Catherine II and her entourage gave sumptuous gold boxes to sovereigns, eminent personalities and favorites. A box given by the empress to her favorite Grigori Orlov is illustrated in Snowman, A. Kenneth. Eighteenth Century Gold Boxes of Europe. London, 1990, p. 363. Catherine the Great attracted many European craftsmen and merchants to Russia, offering them favorable conditions. Many foreign goldsmiths, including the Théremin brothers, were attracted by the economic opportunities and the opportunity to showcase their skills. The Thérémin brothers: goldsmiths and enamellers in Saint Petersburg. François-Claude and Pierre-Étienne Thérémin, the Prussian-born sons of a Huguenot pastor, were renowned goldsmiths and enamellers. The eldest, François-Claude, trained in Magdeburg, Paris and Hanau, then worked in Berlin with his father-in-law, Jean-Guillaume Krüger, famous for his snuffboxes for Frederick the Great. He became a master silversmith in Berlin in 1779, where he founded a silversmith's business with the support of the Jordan brothers. His younger brother, Pierre-Étienne, apprenticed with him, before going on to perfect his skills as an engraver in Geneva. In 1793, the two brothers moved to St. Petersburg. François-Claude became a master there in 1795, consolidating their reputation. The Theremin brothers specialized in the manufacture of gold boxes for the Russian imperial court. Seven boxes by the Theremin brothers are now in the Hermitage Museum collection, including one dated 1796 (inv. ERO-9110) with enamel work very similar to the box shown. Their production is closer to the enamelled boxes of Geneva than to those of contemporary Hanau or St. Petersburg (see Julia Clarke, Swiss Snuff Boxes 1785-1835, in H. Williams, Enamels of the World. The Khalili Collections, London, 2009, p. 305). A box bearing the hallmarks of François-Claude Thérémine with the Jordan brothers in Berlin, adorned with a medal depicting Catherine II, appeared at Christie's sale of July 7, 2016, lot 218. Another box, from the collection of Prince Félix Youssoupoff, dated 1793, adorned with a micro-mosaic plaque and engraved with no. 213 (inv. E-10796), also features a similar signature, probably bearing the same hallmark. In 1801, he appears to have delivered four gold snuffboxes to the imperial court, for the total sum of 1,580 roubles (see Le Bulletin de l'art ancien et moderne, Paris, Librairie de l'art ancien et moderne, 1899). Their short but clearly lucrative Russian career came to an end in 1802. A tribute to Russian-Swedish peace: the Carl Leberecht medal. Carl Leberecht (1749, Meiningen-1827, St. Petersburg) was a German medallist active mainly at the Imperial Court.
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