Snuff Box (Tabatière)

From the museum

This snuff box’s decoration departs from the practice of early Chantilly porcelain that drew inspiration from Chinese and Japanese porcelain compositions, techniques, and motifs. Rather than compositions modeled directly from East-Asian porcelain, the paintings on this box may have been influenced by European chinoiserie, imitations of Chinese and Japanese decoration that pulled from the European imagination rather than accurate depictions of these cultures. The enamels on this box are no longer applied flat without shading as was typical of early production at the Chantilly factory, but have been painted in a way that suggests depth through depictions of light and shadow.

The museum’s own description, in English. Licence: CC0