Fine Antique French 3" Oval Table Snuff Box, Bonbon, Kiln-fired Enamel Portrait
A museum quality late 1700s to earliest 1800s French bonbon or snuff box with a familiar image, but I can't immediately access it in my head or the internet, either one. Still, that aside, it is a lovely hand crafted kiln-fired enamel plaque miniature of a beauty, holding what we can assume isa pose over the fire of love atop a tomb of mourning - if only we had the full story, huh. Beautifully crafted, a most difficult process, indeed**. Full measurements are noted on the photos. Please review in full. ** About kiln-fired enamel work: This process, which I've written about many times, is one only accomplished with the skill of years and years of practice. The enamel powders are various shades of muddy mauve, taupe, blues, not the least resembling the color they will become once the kiln melts them into the glassine or porcelain like finished product you see here. So an artist is layering on stroke after stroke, working quite literally blind as far as the colors and spacing of the fin