Lot 321

Jean George Rémond & Compagnie zugeschr. / attr. to

Belisarius

A high-quality, octagonal gold enamel snuff box "Belisarius asking for alms"

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An octagonal bright-coloured enamel plaque is mounted on the hinged cover. It shows Flavius Belisarius (505-565), Eastern Roman commander for emperor as a beggar.The motif is inspired by a painting by Jacques-Louis David dating from 1781. The plaque is framed by engraved gold borders with floral elements as well as wide black and narrow blue decorative strips. The sides are ornamented with geometric guilloche pattern, while the back has a palmette motif; sides and back are also decorated with translucent cobalt blue and opaque black enamel. A gold border with engraved palmette frieze frames the back. The chamfered edges are decorated with gold, white and blue palmette Champlevé elements on black ground.
A comparable gold enamel box is part of the Khalili Collection, which owns several pieces by Jean-Georges Rémond.
Even though the enamel painting is not signed, it is fairly obviously Jean-Abraham Lissignol’s work. The extremely fine strokes of the brush - made by a single hair - in combination with the pointillistic technique are typical of Lissignol's work, which can often be found on snuff boxes of Jean George Rémond, who decorated his boxes with miniature paintings by Jean-Louis Richter or Jean-Abraham Lissignol.