ENAMELED BOX of MYTHOLOGICAL SCENES, rectangular... Lot 33

ENAMELED BOX of MYTHOLOGICAL SCENES, rectangular in shape with trapezoidal lid in golden wood, resting on black painted balls. Decorated with nine polychrome painted enamel plaques on a dark blue background, enhanced with gold and turquoise. On the lid, a plaque composed of facing laurel branches surmounts four other plaques. On the front and back of the plaques are chimeras with man's heads surrounding a term whose shoulders take the form of an ionic capital. On the short sides, foliage and scrolls support a bust of a winged woman crowned with a skirt stylized by acanthus leaves and surrounded by a flower motif. The front of the case is decorated with Venus and Adonis accompanied by a dog in a landscape and the back shows Diana hunting and a nymph; on the short sides, Narcissus gazing into the water falls in love with her image and Diana (?) sitting hunting birds in flight with a bow. Limoges, neo-Renaissance style, 19th century. Height. 15 Length. 21.5 Width. 12 cm. (small accidents, three plates to be refixed). Provenance: descendant of Jean Marie-Pie Michel Claret (1805-1886), architect-decorator of Napoleon III and protégé of Baron James de Rothschild. Enamelled coffer of mythological scenes. Limousin work of the 19th century in the taste of the Renaissance. Homogenisation of the chromatic palette, with a dark blue background and highlights of turquoise, green, blue-green, and gold - foliage delicately treated with small touches - charming scenes, elegant movements of characters and animals - delicate modelling of the flesh, refined heads in profile with eyes underlined with black lines - make a happy combination.