Snuffbox in gold and enamel. Paris, 1798-1809. Master... Lot 28

Snuffbox in gold and enamel. Paris, 1798-1809. Master goldsmith Gabriel Raoul MOREL. The miniature signed Paul-Louis QUAGLIA. Exceptional gold snuffbox, rectangular in shape. On the lid an oval miniature of the Empress Josephine, signed by Paul-Louis-Ferdinand QUAGLIA. The box chiselled on a amati background decorated with foliage scrolls and interlacing leaves. Blue enamel frame borders. Blue enamel headband base with winding frieze. In its red calf's box with a small iron. Wear number 103. Height: 1,8 cm - Length: 8,6 cm - Width: 6 cm - Weight: 171 g According to the tradition, this snuffbox was offered to the count of BARRAL by the Empress Joséphine of whom he was a relative by the marriage of his father with a lady of Beauharnais. The Count of BARRAL, a page of Napoleon I, was present at the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805, charged by the Emperor with bringing the news to the Empress. She presented him with this snuffbox as a thank you for his services. "The young BARRAL was introduced before Josephine and the ladies of the Court. Exhausted with fatigue, he could only utter the two words We are... And faints not being able to say any more. He came to his senses and told the story of the beautiful victory. Josephine, to show her gratitude, asked him what he would like in exchange for the happiness he had given her by telling her the story. He replied, "Your Majesty can give me nothing more precious than his portrait. Hyppolite de BARRAL born in 1787, related by marriage to the BEAUHARNAIS. He entered the service of Napoleon I. Paul Louis Ferdinand QUAGLIA (1788-1853) Miniature painter, illuminator, painter and lithographer. It is apparently in Paris where he settled in 1805 that QUAGLIA devoted himself to the art of miniature. Protected by Joséphine de BEAUHARNAIS who attached him to her house, he painted many portraits of the imperial family and his entourage. QUAGLIA's miniatures have th