Lot 364

Master's mark "JO" with a star, Paris, 68 x 56 x 38 mm, circa 1750
An exquisite French snuff-box with gold mountings and enamel plaque with paintings of genre scenes after the Belgian artist David Tenier the Younger (1610-1690)
Case: 20k gold, case makers punch mark "JO" with a star, charge mark Julien Berthe (1750 - 1756), guild punch mark "K" for the years 1750-1751, two later Parisian punch marks for gold 1838-1846.
Oval box, all sides lacquer vermilion coloured, very finely chased, ribbon-type gold mountings; the hinged lid inset with an oval enamel plaque, very finely painted with a rustic interior tavern scene after the Belgian artist David Tenier the Younger (1610-1690).
Genre painting
Genre painting shows everyday scenes of customs and traditions of people in a generally realistic manner, without any religious, mythological or historical background. Genre painting only developed into its own category during the 16th and 17th century and is most popularly used to describe the works of Dutch painters. The paintings illustrate everyday life, of ordinary people, or of nobles and the bourgeois in work or recreation.