On one of my last trips to Paris, I spent time again in one of my favorite smaller museums, the Musee Jaquemart- Andre up on Bd. Housseman. Home of the namesake couple, it still shows with their collections and art and furnishings inside and gives a glimpse of what it might have been like to be a wealthy Parisienne at the end of the 1800s. Therein is one of my favorite collection displays, in the living room in 2 matching table vitrines is housed a collection of wonderful antique snuff boxes. Elaborate 18k gold and jeweled ones, and hand painted ones similar to this lovely old French one with its miniature painting mounted in the lid. Inspired always by that collection, we've amassed a great collection of miniatures set into snuff boxes - you'll want to see them all, and if you don't readily find them, please ask and we'll point you the way. But I digress, and I wanted to simply tell you that this wonderful early to mid-1800s table snuff is very similar to those we see in a variety of museum displays. And quite often those, too, have a hairline or age crack like you see in this one natural to the material and quite common. The lovely old hand made snuff is otherwise in very good condition, with the cover glass still in place and a fabulous miniature painting so well protected beneath it. Imagine capturing such a finely detailed scene of country life on such a small 'canvas' as this. At least 7 people in that scene, and each captured in just a few brush stokes. The artist hasn't signed the painting, sadly, but one can sort of see the beginnings of the Impressionist movement in the painting, I think. One wonders at the inspirations for movements in art - perhaps the necessary abbreviation of person and place in these small paintings inspired those early impressionists, many of whom actually did paint miniatures for Grand Tour tourist trade in order to buy their supplies and food, lodging, well before they had success as artists (Manet, Monet, Degas).
