Beschreibung:

A gold and enamel snuff box, Joseph-Etienne Blerzy, Paris, 1776
oval, the lid centred with an oval enamel plaque painted with 'The Departure of Telemachus from Egypt', based on an engraving after Charles Monnet (1732-1808), fig. 1, on an opalescent pale pink background, crowned by a translucent green enamel bow, within white enamel bead borders and green enamel laurel wreath, on a reeded engine-turned ground enamelled to simulate leopard fur, further borders of beads and bright red and green enamel foliage on a finely matted ground, the sides and base similarly decorated, the leopard fur-patterened enamel panels divided by chased garland-hung pilasters, the base with maker's mark, charge and discharge mark of Jean Baptiste Fouache (1774-1780), Paris date letter N for 1776, the lid and left rim with further illegible marks, the left rim numbered: 455, length 3¼in.; 8,5cm.____________________________________________
Tabatière en or et émail par Joseph-Etienne Blerzy, Paris, 1776
de forme ovale, le couvercle serti d'une plaque émaillée représentant Télémaque quittant l'Egypte, sur fond rose pâle opalescentlength 3¼in.; 8,5cm.Condition reportFor further information on the condition of this lot please contact shiona.fourie@sothebys.com ProvenanceMayer Carl von Rothschild (1820-86), Frankfurt;
Emma Louise von Rothschild (1844-1935);
Then by descent to Nathaniel Mayer Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild (1910-1990), London;
sold Christie's London, The Lord Rothschild Collection, 30 June 1982, lot 32;
Christie's London, 25-26 November 2014, lot 210
Mayer Carl von Rothschild (1820-86), Francfort ;
Emma Louise von Rothschild (1844-1935); 
Puis par descendance à Victor, 3ème Lord Rothschild, Londres ;
Christie's Londres, The Lord Rothschild Collection, 30 juin 1982, lot 32;
Christie's Londres, 25-26 novembre 2014, lot 210.
Lord Rothschild's collection of gold boxes was inherited principally from Baron Carl von Rothschild of Frankfurt. On Baron Carl's death in 1886 his remarkable collection, located in his mansion at Untermainkai in Frankfurt, was divided amongst his five daughters, the second of whom, Emma Louise, married Nathan Mayer, 1st Lord Rothschild. The gold boxes and other works of art, augmented by the inheritance of Lady Rothschild's father-in-law, Baron Lionel de Rothschild, were housed at 148 Piccadilly. The contents of 148 Piccadilly were sold in 1937, but the boxes were retained by Lord Rothschild and subsequently sold on 30 June 1982. They formed an important group of the finest examples of the works of the most talented Paris goldsmiths of the 18th century, while exceptional boxes from other centres of production were also represented (see P. Shirley, 'The Rothschilds as Collectors of Gold Boxes' in: eds. T. Murdoch and H. Zech, Going for Gold, London, 2014, pp. 236-7).LiteratureInventory of the collection of Freiherr Carl von Rothschild, Untermainquai No. 15, Frankfurt, 1886)Catalogue note