Dans le style de Johann Friedrich Büttner, rectangulaire ciselée sur chaque face de canaux rayonnants centrés d'une fleur dans un cartouche d'enroulements sur fond à l'imitation du corail, le couvercle appliqué de quatorze camées en coquillages, treize figurant des animaux, éléphants, lions, vaches, licorne, lapin, chiens, chevaux, chameaux, autour du quatorzième plus large figurant l'arche de Noé, poinçons d'importation français postérieurs pour 1864-1893
L.: 8,5 cm. (3⁵⁄₈ in.)
Poids brut: 205 gr. (6 oz. 1 dwt.)

Collection de Félix Doistau (1846-1936), Paris.
Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 18-19 juin 1928, lot 147 (FFr. 70,000 acquis par Aimé Martinet, Genève).
The property of a Swiss gentleman; Christie's, Londres, 22 mai 2001, lot 23.

A CONTINENTAL GOLD TABLE SNUFF-BOX SET WITH CAMEOS
POSSIBLY GERMANY, CIRCA 1760
In the manner of Johann Friedrich Büttner, rectangular, all four sides and base boldly chased with sunburst motifs surrounded by foliate scrolls and centred by flowersprays, the cover inset with fourteen oval shell cameos carved with Noah's ark and with various animals, single or in pairs; slightly raised scrolling thumbpiece,with later French control marks in use from 1864 to 1893

The sunburst decoration used on this large snuff-box is similar to that found on snuff-boxes by the Strasbourg silversmith Johann Friedrich Büttner (fl. 1748-1766), as seen on the one sold in the Collection of Dr. Anton C.R. Dreesman at Christie's, London, 11 April 2002, lot 915 (illustrated here).
The story of Noah's Ark in the Book of Genesis was a popular theme with artists and engravers, which makes it difficult to identify the iconographic source used for the cameos. Nevertheless, the central cameo featuring the Ark can be compared with an engraving by Etienne Delaune dated circa 1560/1570 (illustrated here).
Etienne Delaune (1518-1583) was probably one of the most influential engraver for Decorative Arts craftsmen, particularly goldsmiths. Religious subjects make up a large part of his work, with a clear preference for the Old Testament and especially the Genesis, which can be explained by the fact that although he was a self-proclaimed Catholic, Delaune was probably a Protestant, and was forced to flee Paris following the Saint Barthélémy massacre on 24 August 1572. In 1573, he took refuge in Strasbourg, a reformed city, where he was given the right 'to practise his art and trade' (J. Rohou, Graver la Renaissance, Etienne Delaune et les Arts Décoratifs, Paris, 2019, p. 21) before leading an itinerant life, taking commissions in Augsburg and Nuremberg before returning to Strasbourg around 1577 and then Paris around 1580, where he died around 1583.
His engravings were undoubtedly widely disseminated in southern Germany, but also in Strasbourg, which suggests that they may have served as a model for a German or Strasbourg silversmith to make these cameos and snuffbox.