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From the private collection of Lord Ramsey of Amberly
Distinctive Limoges Boxes
Viewing June 23rd 2001
Contact:
Sylvia Desilva
Mary-le-bone Gallery
34 Cheshire Mews
London, W6 4L6
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Item #1: The Plum Box
A deep purple verging on a sensual violet, this somewhat ellipsoid and asymmetrical box, is a most unusual piece. Part of what makes it such a unique and desirable box are the raised designs on the sides— while to the eye it is nothing but a series of curves, in the palm, this plum-sized box’s curves and ridges immediately evoke a more intimate part of the human anatomy.
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Item #2: The Flat Heart
Experts on porcelain value the color of boxes painted in this fabulous crimson. It is impossible to describe quite how rich and deep this red is: in certain lights it becomes almost orange. The combination of this remarkable color and the box's harmonious shape is breathtaking when you actually hold the heart in your hand. Blood was indeed used to create this hue, but it has been proved that, for the most part, the craftsmen who worked on this style of box were not required to let their own blood into the lacquer. Instead the blood, as far as the DNA tests can tell seems to come from a rodent species-one can most readily assume rat, rather than the less sanguine mouse, though there have been strong arguments in favor of rabbit. There's also a little secret in the design of the clasp -- a lyre, a type of harp that has symbolized romance and true love since the time of the ancient Greeks.
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Item #3: The Basket Box
Of all the boxes in the collection, this is one of the most exquisite. Every part of it, from the fabulous fruit decoration on the lid to the delicate design on the base indicates why it is being offered first. Probably one of the only coca leaf boxes still extant, it is further remarkable in that it still contains the razor like metal strip that slides out of the lid. The basket is elegantly rimmed in body polished steel and finished off with a latch fashioned in the shape of a ripe pear that echoes the lid's design.
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Item #4: The Oval Crimson Box
While other boxes might have been used by women for their everyday needs like storing beauty spots, this imposing box is definitely a man's box. You can imagine the confidence of the sort of man who would carry a box like this, taking it out grandly to offer it around to the members of the court, starting, of course, with the person he most wanted to impress. Its distinctive shape is traditionally, and somewhat modestly, called a “cigar.” Quite what he was offering isn’t clear: there are only two such boxes extant. This one contains light residues of ground oyster. The specimen in the Victoria and Albert revealed that it had been used store sheep intestines. Why he was offering it is clearer: Plate 3, “The Tavern Scene,” of Hogarth’s series The Rake’s Progress shows a dandified French aristocrat discreetly removing such a box from his trousers once he has wooed a young girl.
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Item #5: Small Circular Box
It's not hard to imagine the graceful aristocratic lady's hand that used to carry this unusually shaped, but lovely box. It's one of those objects of beauty that are as much a pleasure to hold as they are to look at. Gently ribbed, and covered in a profusion of budding flowers, it’s a memorable piece. The slender finger-sized hole in the side means a woman could handle it easily-either to offer spices or snuff, or more discreetly, to entertain herself during a dull levee, slipped through the slits in the many petticoats a lady of court would have to wear. A lady at the court of Louis XVI would be able to carry a gorgeous box like this around in her pocket for the whole evening, touching it from time to time to remind herself of the luxury she was able to afford.
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Further notes:
This is the first of a series of offerings from his lordship’s collection. The choice parts of the family’s plaster cast collection will be offered in the fall, along with a selection of the estate’s fencing and gates, and a rare series of erotic golfing prints.
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text © 2001 by nat bench, used with permission
Nat Bench is a writer living in Brooklyn. He's currently working on a novel
about Editorial Assistants looking for love and cheap apartments in Park Slope. |
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