Geneva, May 15, 2023

LOT 328

RICHTER ''RIVERSIDE LANDSCAPE'' 18K FOUR-COLOURED GOLD

CHF 50,000 - 100,000

EUR 51,000 - 102,000 / USD 57,000 - 114,000 / HKD 442,000 - 890,000

TO BE SOLD WITHOUT RESERVE

Sold: CHF 117,500

Very fine and important 18K four-coloured gold and enamel, pearl-set musical snuff-box.
Rectangular case with canted corners, the enamel panel of the lid with split-pearl set borders, finely painted by Richter with a riverside landscape, a castle and mountains on the back, a rowing boat on the foreground with a family enjoying a nice afternoon.
Engine-turned side and back panels with four coloured gold floral and foliage decoration chased over a matted ground.


Grading System
Grade:
Case: 3

Good

Movement: 3-6*

Good

Slightly oxidized

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense

Brand Jean-Louis Richter, Switzerland

Year Circa 1830

Movement No. 4364

Material 18K. four-coloured gold

Caliber Musical movement: Brass rectangular with canted corners, pin-cylinder with a comb of 60 teeth and fly regulator, playing two tunes at will with bolts in the front panel.

Dimensions  60 x 100 mm.

Notes

Jean Louis Richter (1766-1841) He learned his art uncle' David-Etienne-Roux and Philippe-Samuel- Theodore Roux, becoming a most renowned enamel painter. His speciality was the painting of landscapes and particularly lake and marine scapes, often representing ships in a harbour or battles with fighting Men-of-war. He also painted portraits and hunting scenes. Although it may happen that his signature, iii running hand-writing, appears on some of his work, more often than not his paintings are unsigned but can clearly be recognised as being in his hand from the style and duality of the work. He applied his art principally to watch cases and snuff boxes and these were largely destined for the Chinese, Turkish, British and Italian markets. Richter, like other great enamel painters of the time, often found inspiration for his work from paintings or engravings by the artists then in fashion, such as Van der Myn (1684-1741), Giovanni Battista Cipriani (1727-1785), John Francis Rigaud (1742-1820), John Hoffner (1748-1810) and Francesco Bartolozzi (1727-1815), or even from particularly famous scenes such as the " Rape of Helen " from the engraving by Guido Reni (1575-1642), now in the Cabinet des Estampes, Paris.