Gold snuff box with enamel. Jean George Remond & Compagnie. 1810.

Attributed to Jean Georges Remond and Company, circa 1810. Gold octagonal snuffbox with decorative belts, guilloché and painted enamel: Belisarius begging, on a hinged lid. The installed octagonal enamel plate is based on the 1781 painting of the same name by Jacques-Louis David. It depicts the beggar Flavius Belisarius (505–565), commander of the Eastern Roman Empire. Illustrates the sad legend about the old age of the famous commander. At the end of his life, he fell out of favor with the emperor, and ended his life as a blind beggar, having experienced the transience of fame and human ingratitude. Belisariuss hands represent despair and a plea for mercy. The guide boy hands over the heros helmet, where the alms are placed by a woman in ancient clothes, shocked by the unexpected meeting with the former arbiter of destinies. Enamel miniature and deep cobalt blue guilloché enamel with black leaf silhouettes, decorated with a floral frame, a belt with garlands and stylized rams heads. On the reverse side it is decorated with an empire belt of rising suns and spikelets. The side sections are gracefully decorated with motifs of double palmettes. A similar gold enamel box is part of the Khalili collection, which includes several works by Jean-Georges Remond. Although the miniature is not signed, it is quite obvious that it is the work of Jean-Abraham Lissignol. Lissignols work is characterized by extremely fine brush strokes, executed with a single hair, combined with a pointillistic technique, which can often be found on the snuff boxes of Jean Georges Remont. Switzerland. Case: 18K gold, guilloché and polychrome enamel. Dimensions 94 x 65 x 15 mm, approx. 1810, weight 146 g.