BY ANDRÉ MAGNIN, MARKED, WITH THE GENEVA TOWN MARK, CIRCA 1815, STRUCK WITH THE CONTROL MARK FOR 18-CARAT GOLD, ROME 1815-1870, THE FLANGE STRUCK WITH INVENTORY NUMBER 24214, THE MINIATURE BY NICOLAS FRANÇOIS DUN (1764-1832)

Details

A SWISS PARCEL-ENAMELLED GOLD PRESENTATION SNUFF-BOX SET WITH A MINIATURE
by André Magnin, marked, with the Geneva town mark, circa 1815, struck with the control mark for 18-carat gold, Rome 1815-1870, the flange struck with inventory number 24214, the miniature by Nicolas François Dun (1764-1832)
Rectangular box with rounded corners, the lid inset with a glazed oval miniature of Ferdinand IV (1751-1825), King of Naples and the Two-Sicilies, in blue coat with red collar, frilled lace cravat and black stock, wearing the breast-star of the Royal Neapolitan Order of St. Janarius and the red badge of the Order of the Golden Fleece, on a rectangular matted gold panel cast with raised flowers and foliage, the outer sablé borders and side panels similarly stamped and enamelled en taille d'épargne in dark and light blue with foliate scrolls and flowers, the base centred by a reserve cast with a pair of mirrored raised griffins with cornucopiae and foliate scrolls, plain rims
3¾ in. (95 mm.) wide

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

A slightly larger signed version of the miniature was in the Brewster collection, sold Sotheby's, Geneva, 15 November 1995, lot 280.
Ferdinand IV, third son of Charles III, King of Spain, married Archduchess Maria Carolina of Habsburg in 1768 and secondly, in 1814, Donna Lucia Migliaccio, Duchess of Floridia. William Beckford described Ferdinand IV thus: 'His Majesty seemed to eye nothing but the end of his nose, which is doubtless a capital object. Though people have imagined him a weak monarch, I beg leave to differ in opinion, since he has the boldness to prolong his childhood and be happy, in spite of years and conviction. Give him a boar to stab, a pigeon to shot at, a battledore or an angling rod, and he is better contented than Solomon in all his glory, and will never discover, like that sapient sovereign, that all is vanity and vexation of spirit' (R. Hudson [ed.], The Grand Tour 1592-1796, London, 1993, pp. 190-191).

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