Bidspirit auction | Tea Caddy with a Miniature

Tea Caddy with a Miniature of the Panthéon in Paris. Russia, Imperial Glass Factory (?), first half of the 19th century. Two-layer glass: clear and milk glass, mould-blown, cut, polished; bronze; painting on glass (miniature under glass); mounting. Dimensions: height — 15 cm, base sides — approximately 7.2–7.4 cm; diameter of the polished lens on the base — approximately 3.5–4 cm. Condition: very good; technological inclusions (”carbon” specks) within the glass mass; light surface wear; the bronze finial with lid has a natural patina and minor signs of use; the miniature under glass is intact; a single chip to the upper layer of milk glass at the base. The heavy body of the tea caddy is made of two-layer glass — clear inner and milk outer — with a neatly cut faceted ornament of four-petal motifs forming a dense geometric pattern on all sides. The high quality of the cutting through the milk glass, the precision of the pattern and the treatment of the base with a wide polished lens free of a rough pontil scar place the object close to the production of the Imperial Glass Factory of the first half of the 19th century. The bronze lid with an ornamental band is fitted with a round insert containing a miniature under glass depicting the façade of the Panthéon in Paris — an outstanding monument of French Neoclassicism, built to the design of Jacques-Germain Soufflot in 1758–1790 and subsequently converted into a mausoleum for the great figures of France, among them: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, Marie Curie, Jean Monnet, Pierre Curie, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas. The use of a view of the Panthéon reflects the interest of the Russian audience of the first half of the 19th century in the architectural landmarks of Paris and the circle of ”Grand Tour” motifs widely current in the engraving and decorative arts of the period.