
Gold Boxes, Silver & Objects of Vertu
Baraset House offers a carefully curated collection of luxury boxes ranging from the mid-18th to the mid-20th century along with a selection of silver and fine objects of vertu, with particular focus on items of rare or unusual design, exceptional quality, craftsmanship & notable provenance.

French, gold & enamel snuff box by Frères Jordan, circa 1790
A magnificent late 18th century gold and enamel snuff box by Frères Jordan (Hanau, active c.1790-1820),
with enamel plaque
after Angelica Kauffman (Swiss, 1741-1807)
maker's mark FJ crowned incuse
circa 1790
Measurements
10.0 centimetres in length
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Of shallow rectangular form with rounded corners, the cover set with a miniature enameled plaque en pleine depicting a mother and child in a wooded landscape, the sides and base set with turquoise enameled ground stamped at intervals with gold fleur-de-lis and within white enamel fillets, the outer sable gold borders with scrolling foliage.
Marked inside the base and cover with maker's mark FJ crowned incuse, the town mark for Vienna, interlace S, sunray and monogram mark, sunbursts. The flange stamped with inventory number 4686.
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Makers Mark:
Formerly thought to represent the goldsmith Francois Juanin (Geneva) recent scholarly research has identified the mark of FJ crowned incuse as that of Frères Jordan of Hanau (active 1790-1820).
Boxes bearing the marks FJ - with laurel above, with or without a sunray mark and a crossed-S mark, previously attributed to François Joanin, Geneva, are now suggested to be the work of Huguenot goldsmiths who flourished in the Rhineland in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, most notably in Hanau and Berlin. Characterized with the same shallow construction, canted corners and style of decoration and bearing an inventory number struck on the right-hand rim of the cover their production seems to date from circa 1790 to circa 1820.

French, Gold toothpick case, Barthelemy Cabaille, Paris 1784
A fine Louis XVI engine-turned tri-colour gold toothpick case
bearing makers mark for
Barthélemy Cabaille (master 1775; active 1791)
and the poinçons of Henri Clavel
with the tête de vanneau decharge,
Paris 1784
George III French toothpick cases of this period are exceeding rare and this is a magnificent example from a rare and sought-after master Parisian goldsmith. The elongated oblong shape features rounded end, and the cover shows a crisply engine-turned central panel within a scrolling leaf-and-bead border. The sides and base with similar engine-turned panel, separated by relief yellow-gold laurel and paterae pilasters.
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A similar engine-turned and chased vari-gold box (probably a boite-a-rouge) dated 1783-4 by Barthélemy Cabaille in the collection of The Met Museum, accession number 48.187.477a, b.

Italian, diamond-mounted 18 karat gold & enamel box by Faraone Milano, circa 1950-60
An exceptionally fine mid 20th century
Italian jewelled guilloché enamel gold cigarette case
by Faraone Milano
gold hallmarked & signed Faraone, Milan, Italy
circa 1950s/60s
Rectangular with rounded corners, the solid 18kt gold body enamelled in translucent yellow over a moiré guilloché ground, within gold borders, with a rose-cut diamond-set thumb-piece, marked inside cover and base
3 5/8 in. (9.3 cm.) wide
The gem-set solid gold case with a guilloché wave moire pattern covered with a yellow gold translucent enamel of the finest quality, the thumbpiece set with a row of five graduated rose-cut diamonds.
The design of this guilloché wave moire pattern cigarette case was popularized by Fabergé at the turn-of-the-century.
Tracing its roots back to 1860, the august House of Faraone was patronized by a venerated client list comprising many members of the European royalty, aristocratic Italian families including the Savoys, and international celebrities.
After World War I the company opened its first salon on the Via Montenapoleone in Milan and was celebrated for its exquisite workmanship.