Louis XVI secret snuffbox in Varennes with double - Lot 104

Louis XVI secret snuffbox in Varennes with double concealing a miniature of the Queen. The interior is inlaid with stained straw and decorated with stylized foliage and flowers. The unscrewing double back is adorned with a polychrome miniature of Queen Marie-Antoinette, signed in the lower center by François DUMONT (1751-1831). Late 18th century Diameter: 8.8 cm There are three other versions by François Dumont(1). Probably the first is the gouache version of "Marie-Antoinette en vestale", in private collection, from the former collection of the Duc de Mouchy and adorned the desk of King Louis XVI at the Tuileries before the Revolution (M. Jallut). The second version is a less accomplished miniature in the Louvre's Department of Graphic Arts (inv. no. RF 23, Recto). Finally, a third version in black stone and red chalk from the album amicorum of Princess Constance de Salm was pre-empted by the Musée du Louvre in 2021 (inv. no. RFML.AG.2021.35.1, 177 - sale Sotheby's Paris, "Autour de la princesse de Salm, Arts et littérature", October 14, 2021, lot no. 163). Provenance: - Duchesse de Tourzel (1749-1832), governess to the Enfants de France, preserved in her descendants. Exhibition: - "Marie-Antoinette et son Temps", Galerie Sedelmeyer, 1894, p. 23, no. 14. - La reine Marie-Antoinette et sa cour", Bibliothèque de Versailles, May-June 1927, p. 54, no. 284. - Marie-Antoinette Archduchess, Dauphine and Queen", Château de Versailles, May 16-November 2 1955, no. 101. (1) He exhibited regularly at the Paris Salon from 1789 to 1824, where his miniatures were much appreciated for their finesse, precision and elegance. He excelled in depicting detail and expression, skilfully capturing the personalities of his models. His works display a freedom of touch and an innovative ardor for the time. François Dumont died in Paris on August 27, 1831. Some of his work is preserved in the Musée du Louvre(2). (2) "Catalogue des tabatières, boîtes et étuis des XVIIIème et XIXème siècles du musée du Louvre", by Serge Grandjean, chief curator in the Objets d'art department, preface by Pierre Verlet, ED. De la Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris 1981. A printed and handwritten bill is enclosed.