Snuff Box (Tabatière) with Portrait of Marie-Thérèse of Austria
miniature painted by Jean Petitot (Swiss, 1607–1691)
box by Charles Le Bastier (French)
miniature, c. 1676; box, 1775–76
- Medium
- Gold, enamel, and miniature
- Classification
- Enamel
- Dimensions
- Overall: 2.3 x 4.5 cm (7/8 x 1 3/4 in.)
- Culture
- France
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Decorative Art and Design
- Credit line
- Gift of Mrs. Edward B. Greene
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
In 18th-century France, ornately enameled boxes that held snuff—powdered tobacco—became a popular accessory in the French court. This box is decorated with a miniature portrait of Marie-Thérèse of Austria, the queen consort of French King Louis XIV. Their union was largely political. A year into their marriage Louis XIV took an official mistress, Madame Pompadour.
