A SWISS PEARL-SET AND ENAMELLED GOLD VINAIGRETTE

BY MOULINIE, BAUTTE & CIE, GENEVA , 1804-1808

Details

Kidney shaped, the hinged cover enamelled with a lamb lying on a bed of forget-me-not and split-pearl decoration in the form of stylised flowers and foliage within a border of split-pearls, the sides and base with panels of translucent blue enamel on an engine-turned ground imitating basket weave, the base with quatrefoils and pellets chased and enamelled border, the interior with hinged grille engraved with pierced scrolling foliage, marked inside the base, cover and grille: maker's marks, French department restricted warranty mark for gold in use from 1798 to 1809, further struck with inventory number 40 and 18k
1 5/8 in. (4 cm.) long
Lot Essay

Moulinié, Bautte & Cie made several of these types of boxes. Each was shaped oval with a border of split-pearls and forget-me-not foreground but differed from each other by the animal depicted on the cover.
A similar box with a lion on the cover is in the The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, no. 1047-2008. A further example with a sheep on the cover and another with a dog from the Collection of Dr. L. Catzenstein, Gold Boxes & Objects of Vertu including The Englefield Collection of Vinaigrettes, Part II, were sold at Christie's, London, 22 May 2001, lots 368 and 352. Another dog was sold at Christie's, London, 7th June 2011, lot 337 previously with Aux Vieux Paris, 1991.