Lot 225. A German jewelled gold and hardstone snuff-box, attributed to Heinrich Taddel (1714-1794), Dresden, circa 1740. Estimate £100,000 - £150,000 ($129,100 - $193,650). Price Realized £140,500 ($182,088). Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2016.

rectangular box, the wavy gold cage-work mounts enclosing panels of translucent orange and grey agate overlaid in pierced and chased gold, the cover and sides with pastoral scenes within scrolls and foliage hung with rose diamond garlands, the base with a classical fountain within similar scrolls and foliage; 3 in. (75 mm.) wide

Provenance: Sotheby’s, Geneva, 12 November 1980, lot 38.

Notes: The attribution to Taddel is based on the comparison to a box of identical form and with similar decoration in the Hermitage, illustrated by A. Kenneth Snowman, Eighteenth Century Gold Boxes of Europe, London 1966, pl. 499-500, signed Taddel à Dresde and Sadier. For many years Heinrich Taddel was one of the most influential members of the artistic community in Dresden. He is referred to as a 'Hofgalanteriearbeiter', a court manufacturer of fancy goods from 1767 onwards and was Grand Master of Dresden's gold-smiths' guild from 1739. As one of Dresden's leading goldsmiths he held the position of inspector of the Green Vault 1748-1794 and also served as a privy chamberlain. For an essay on Taddel and Johann-Christian Neuber in Dresden see Jutta Kappel, Going for Gold: Craftmanship and Collecting of Gold Boxes, T. Murdoch and H. Zech (eds.), Victoria and Albert Museum, Sussex, 2014, Chap. 8, pp. 107-121. 

Christie's. MAGNIFICENT GOLD BOXES FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, 7 July 2016, London, King Street