Lot 56

"S&D" (Sené & Détalla), Geneva, 92 x 60 x 16 mm, 133 g, circa 1800
An exquisite Swiss gold enamel snuff box "Odysseus and Circe"
Case: 18K gold, Makers' mark "S&D" (Sené & Détalla), Geneva.
Rectangular case with chamfered corners, decorated with stylised opaque cerulean and white taille d'épargne flowers. Tulip shaped sides and base; parts of the lid are decorated with engine-turned pinprick detail and translucent cobalt blue and black enamel surrounded by taille d'épargne borders. The top part of the lid with an exquisite rectangular enamel medallion with extremely fine polychrome miniature painting shows a scene from Homer’s Odyssey: the Greek hero Odysseus with the enchantress Circe, surrounded by a chased laurel frame and flanked by two high oval medallions with painted en grisaille enamel figures. Underneath an applied bas-relief shows military equipment.
The partnership of Geneva goldsmiths Philippe Sené and Détalla must have existed before 1795 and was most likely disolved in 1805; in 1798 Sené had formed a partnership with his brother-in-law Henry Neisser, who had moved from Hanau to Geneva in 1783 and the company was renamed to Sené & Neisser in October 1805. Philippe Sené died in November 1807 and in 1808 Neisser registered his own master’s mark.