The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Snuff Box (Tabatière)

1777–78

François Chazeray

(French)
France, 18th century (style of Louis XVI)
gold and enamel
Overall: 2.9 x 3.9 cm (1 1/8 x 1 9/16 in.)
Gift of Mrs. Edward B. Greene 1958.124
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Decorated with allegorical scenes of love, it is likely that this box was a present between lovers.

Description

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.
  • Mrs. Edward B. Greene, Cleveland, Ohio.
  • Norton, Richard, and Martin Norton. A History of Gold Snuff Boxes. London: Messrs. S.J. Phillips, 1938. reproduced pl. 33B library.clevelandart.org
    Milliken, William M. The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 45, no. 3 (March 1958): 35-94. reproduced P 61 25142265
    Milliken, William M. "Annual Report Issue for the Year 1957." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 45, no. 6 (June 1958): 159-90. reproduced P 168 25142278
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. reproduced P 159 archive.org
    Grandjean, Serge. Catalogue des tabatières, boîtes et étuis des XVIIIe et XIXe siècles du Musée du Louvre. Paris: Editions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, 1981. mentioned P 69 library.clevelandart.org
  • {{cite web|title=Snuff Box (Tabatière)|url=false|author=François Chazeray|year=1777–78|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1958.124