French
Snuff Box, 18th century
Lacquered wood (vernis martin), 9.6 x 7.2 x 4.9 cm (3 3/4 x 2 13/16 x 1 15/16 in.)
This small French snuff box is palm-sized. It is made of red wood, painted in a process called vernis martin - a European attempt to produce a shiny Chinese lacquer finish. The box is disc-shaped with an attached serpentine gold painted band around the hinged, tight fitting lid. Both the body and the lid are bright red with a faint, trellis-like, diamond patterned background design in gold. The top and upper side of the lid are decorated with a band of hand painted gold arabesque scrollwork. A matching decorative band is also found around the bottom of the body of the box. In the center of the lid there is a hand painted posy of flowers that includes several sprays of white and orange blooms and a spray of blue flowers. Strong light from the right casts a deep shadow on parts of the flowers and leaves. The body of the snuff box is decorated with separated and interspersed flowers.
Little Salon
Commentary
This box was created to hold snuff—a flavored powdered tobacco inhaled through the nose. As taking snuff grew in popularity in Europe in the 1600s, so did the demand for decorated boxes to hold the powder. This box was made in France in the 1700s with a technique meant to imitate lacquer imported from Asia. Isabella Stewart Gardner’s husband Jack purchased the box through a dealer in Boston in 1880, and Isabella displayed it in a case in the Little Salon alongside Chinese snuff bottles.