LOT 0371

Post Medieval Gilt Enamelled Mirror Case Depicting the Roman God Mercury

LIMOGES, EARLY 17TH CENTURY A.D.

5 5/8 in. (168 grams, 14.4 cm).

Oval in plan with a vivid polychrome enamel scene on a black ground to the upper face of the lid, within a gilt-copper frame: Mercury, identifiable by his winged helmet and caduceus, standing beneath a classical arch flanked by stylised columns and vases of flowers; above the entablature, a canopy held aloft by two snails, with twin ewers crowning the upper corners and issuing stylised streams; the architectural and ornamental elements highlighted with translucent and opaque enamel, highlighted with gilding and intricate punchwork; the frame with a guilloche border, surmounted by a pierced rocaille loop with a scallop motif, and terminating below in a turned pendant finial; the sides of the frame engraved with a delicate foliate frieze, the reverse flat-chased with three vases of stylised flowers issuing from scrolled supports, framed above by draped swags, butterflies, and a winged cherubic mask; the case hinges open at the top, the interior, originally fitted with mirrored glass, now partially oxidised but retaining areas of reflection.

Private collection, France.
Private collection, UK.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12998-246011.

See a closely related mirror case, almost certainly from the same workshop, in the Cincinnati Art Museum, inv. 1981.145; for the original engraving by Delaune, see the British Museum, London, inv.Gg,4D.66.

The enamel composition is directly derived from a print by Étienne Delaune (1518/19-1583), from his series Grotesques à Fond Noir, Dieux et Déesses, created in France c.1550-1572, before he departed for Strasbourg. Delaune’s engravings were a principal source for Limoges enamellers of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, particularly in the production of oval mirror plaques for personal toilette or cabinet display.