End-18th century SWISS ENAMELLED GOLD SNUFF-BOX BY GUIDON, RÉMOND & GIDE

A rectangular box with canted corners, the cover set with an enamel plaque painted in "plein" depicting scene depicting a chariot pulled by women dressed in antique dress. This scene is inspired by the fresco depicting the chariot of Apollo drawn by the Aurora and the nymphs and painted by Guido Reni in the 17s for the Palazzo Pallavicini-Rospigliosi in Rome. This scene is framed by pale blue and white enamelled motifs and gold circular motifs left in reserve. These same motifs are found on the sides and the base. The canted corners of the sides are decorated with antique vases. One side of white enamel is slightly missing.
The snuffbox bears the crowned GRG hallmarks for Guidon, Rémond and Gide, silversmiths in Geneva at the end of the 18th century.
Jean-Georges Rémond: Born on 27 July 1752 in Hanau, he was the son of the Protestant silversmith Johannes Rémond and Justina Catharina Kessler. In the second half of the 18th century, the German town of Hanau was the centre of production for jewellery, clocks and enamel-painted snuffboxes. A large number of Huguenot jewellers and clockmakers were forced to leave France as a result of persecution following the abolition of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, which accelerated the development of these trades in Germany.
J.G. Rémond's work was in great demand, and he soon became one of Europe's elite artists producing jewellery, clocks and musical and playful automata. 
At the age of 31, Jean-Georges Rémond moved to Geneva and registered as a ‘Hanau jeweller’ in June 1783. On 22 December 1783, he was officially admitted as a goldsmith and jeweller following the presentation of his oval gold snuffbox with painted enamel, which was enthusiastically praised as ‘excellently made’.
At the same time, Rémond founded the company ‘Georges Rémond & Cie’ and registered his first hallmark. In 1792, Jean-Georges Remond's partners - Joseph Guidon, David Gide, Laurent Guisseling and Jean-Noël Lamy - began working unofficially under the name ‘Guidon Remond Gide & Co’. They marked their products with the GRG hallmark. The company was officially registered in January 1796. The production of gold snuffboxes by Jean-Georges Rémond and his associates during the thirty-five years of the Geneva period was extremely important. They were the first to use painted images on a polished background, fine gold leaf work, transparent enamel on guilloché, engraving and pearl borders. Their products are works of fine jewellery. They rightly adorn some of the world's greatest public and private collections, including London's Victoria & Albert Museum.

Weight: 3.70oz (105 g).
Hallmarks: GRG for Guidon, Raymond or Rémond and Gide.
REF: 4910
PRICE: €39.000