The exhibition presents a snuffbox made in Veliky Ustyug in 1786. It entered the museum’s collection in 1938 from the property of the repressed Nikita Melikov.
The item is minted from silver and decorated with a profile portrait of Empress Catherine the Great. The picture is made in relief, as was customary in medallion art. Catherine II is portrayed in a suit of armor. Above her profile, there is a signature: “B. M. Catherine II. Empress and Sovereign of All Russia.” The portrait is gilded all round, and bows and order ribbons are painted on the background in niello technique.
Such an image of Catherine II was very popular. Researchers believe that the portrait of the Empress on this snuffbox dates back to exactly the same image on a gold snuffbox made by the French master Jean-Pierre Adore in 1774. Today, it is kept in the State Historical Museum in Moscow.
The Murom Museum collection has another item with a portrait of Catherine II in the same image. It is a late 18th century porcelain jug with a lid from the factory of Franz Gardner.
In the 16th century, snuffing tobacco began to be shipped from America to other countries. Since many people could not tolerate tobacco smoke, snuff appeared. It was stored in special small boxes that fit in a pocket. Gradually snuffboxes evolved from mere snuff storage devices into true works of art, which emphasized their wearer’s high status. Snuffboxes were made of gold, silver, tortoise shell or aluminum, which was considered an expensive metal at the time. The pieces were inlaid with precious stones or decorated with portrait miniatures on enamel.
In the 18th century, the fashion for snuffing tobacco came to Russia from European countries. At that time, precious snuffboxes made of porcelain, gold and silver became popular. It is known that Catherine the Great herself collected such snuffboxes, and her collection was quite large.
Silver nielloing, which is used on the snuffbox from the museum’s collection, was established in Veliky Ustyug as early as the 17th century and reached its heyday in the 18th century. Ustyug works were markedly influenced by the Baroque style known in Europe at that time. Ustyug masters always decorated their characteristic complex narrative compositions with a magnificent frame.
But in the 1780s their works were dominated by subjects typical of strict classicism. In keeping with the new canons, snuffboxes were decorated in a more restrained style, often using antique motifs and almost documentary images of cities and even geographical maps. The portrait of Catherine II on the snuffbox in the museum collection is also created in the style of classicism.
The item is minted from silver and decorated with a profile portrait of Empress Catherine the Great. The picture is made in relief, as was customary in medallion art. Catherine II is portrayed in a suit of armor. Above her profile, there is a signature: “B. M. Catherine II. Empress and Sovereign of All Russia.” The portrait is gilded all round, and bows and order ribbons are painted on the background in niello technique.
Such an image of Catherine II was very popular. Researchers believe that the portrait of the Empress on this snuffbox dates back to exactly the same image on a gold snuffbox made by the French master Jean-Pierre Adore in 1774. Today, it is kept in the State Historical Museum in Moscow.
The Murom Museum collection has another item with a portrait of Catherine II in the same image. It is a late 18th century porcelain jug with a lid from the factory of Franz Gardner.
In the 16th century, snuffing tobacco began to be shipped from America to other countries. Since many people could not tolerate tobacco smoke, snuff appeared. It was stored in special small boxes that fit in a pocket. Gradually snuffboxes evolved from mere snuff storage devices into true works of art, which emphasized their wearer’s high status. Snuffboxes were made of gold, silver, tortoise shell or aluminum, which was considered an expensive metal at the time. The pieces were inlaid with precious stones or decorated with portrait miniatures on enamel.
In the 18th century, the fashion for snuffing tobacco came to Russia from European countries. At that time, precious snuffboxes made of porcelain, gold and silver became popular. It is known that Catherine the Great herself collected such snuffboxes, and her collection was quite large.
Silver nielloing, which is used on the snuffbox from the museum’s collection, was established in Veliky Ustyug as early as the 17th century and reached its heyday in the 18th century. Ustyug works were markedly influenced by the Baroque style known in Europe at that time. Ustyug masters always decorated their characteristic complex narrative compositions with a magnificent frame.
But in the 1780s their works were dominated by subjects typical of strict classicism. In keeping with the new canons, snuffboxes were decorated in a more restrained style, often using antique motifs and almost documentary images of cities and even geographical maps. The portrait of Catherine II on the snuffbox in the museum collection is also created in the style of classicism.
