Vermeil, Jasper & Tortoiseshell Snuff Box With Micromosaic — Temple Of The Sibyl, Tivoli

A circular snuff box of extraordinary quality and refinement, attributable to Roman workshops of the first quarter of the 19th century — the golden age of micromosaic production created for the aristocratic European clientele of the Grand Tour. The lid houses an exceptionally fine micromosaic executed with tessellae of minute dimensions, arranged with consummate mastery to render a poetic and precise veduta of the Temple of the Sibyl at Tivoli: the circular temple rises dramatically from the rocky cliff amid foliage depicted in vibrant greens and ochres, while the bridge and great waterfall unfold in the background, its cascade suggested by flecks of luminous white; in the foreground, a female figure in traditional costume lends scale and narrative warmth to the composition. The pictorial quality of the scene — with its sophisticated handling of light, shadow and atmospheric depth — points to the most celebrated Roman workshops active between the late 18th and early 19th centuries, heirs to the tradition inaugurated at the Vatican and brought to its highest expression by masters such as Cesare Aguatti and Giacomo Raffaelli. The mount is of absolute luxury and perfectly consonant with the excellence of the mosaic: the outer border is in finely chased and repoussé gilt silver vermeil with a continuous frieze of foliate scrolls and rosettes, the intermediate band is in richly veined red jasper of great chromatic and material splendour, while a double turned silver frame embraces the mosaic roundel with sober and monumental elegance. The whole constitutes a museum-quality object of the highest order, a perfect union of Roman decorative arts and neoclassical sensibility, in excellent condition