Berlin Enamel Snuffbox Alexander Fromery Manufacture Circa 1740

SnuffboxEnamelBerlinManufacture Alexander Fromery circa 1740Colored painted enamel on copper, gilt copper mount. On the lid, a representation of a classical dancer in front of arcaded architecture, done in fine monochrome painting. On the outside, five garden scenes in the style of Watteau. Inside the lid, a portrait of an elderly man with a gold chain and a globe. Inside, on the bottom, two old paper labels:1. CURIOSTITÉS WEINBERG OBJETS D'ART GARANTIE Ancien, no. 4009. 2. A. Normand, no. 712.H. 3.3, W. 8.8, D. 6.5 cm.Provenance: Weinberg. Curiosités Objets d'Art, 34 rue de Provence, Paris (Garantie Ancien. No. 4009.). - A. Normand. The dancer could be Barbara Campanini (1721 - 1799), known as Barbarina. She was one of the most admired dancers in Europe. Her career began in 1739 at the Paris Opera and took her to London and then to Venice. King Frederick II was keen to hire her for himself and his theater and even sent a military escort to fetch her from Berlin. She made her debut there in 1744. She caused several scandals and fell into disgrace in 1749, after which she left Prussia. But she returned several times and spent her old age, in the meantime ennobled by King Frederick William II, as a lady-in-waiting in Barschau. She was portrayed several times by Antoine Pesne, but also by the painter Barbara Rosina Lisiewska (see Lempertz Berlin, auction 1242 of April 20, 2024, lot 53). Her French rivals Maria Sallé (1707 - 1756) and Marie-Anne de Cupis de Camargo (1710 - 1770) also posed in similar poses and outfits for the painter Nicolas Lancret, which makes it difficult to identify the people depicted with certainty. A painting depicting Camargo is attested in 1769 in the palace of the Prussian Prince Heinrich and is now in Rheinsberg Castle. The figure depicted on the inside cover could be Galileo Galilei. See :Rosenberg (ed.), Poussin, Lorrain, Watteau, Fragonard... French Masterpieces of the 17th and 18th Centuries from German Collections, Bonn-Munich-Paris 2005, cat. no. 70. Inv. no. €1,500. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)