26 
House & Garden 
Att excellent example of 
French I8th Century 
goldsmith’s work is 
found in this carnet-de- 
bal 
The JEWELED KNICK-KNACKS of a BRILLIANT PERIOD 
From the Regime of the Louis Come These Bijouteries de Fantaisie That Ladies Once 
Considered Essential and Collectors Now Consider Desirable 
GARDNER TEALL 
Photographs by Courtesy of Metropolitan ftlnseum of Art 
T 
An English Re¬ 
gency design card- 
case 
PHE era of Ja¬ 
cobinism and 
equality in France 
found the years of 
179o and 1794 deal¬ 
ing a blow,” Doug¬ 
las F e r r o 1 d re¬ 
marked, “to the ele¬ 
gancies of dress. 
i g s disappeared, 
powder had gone, 
buckles gave place 
to shoestrings and 
pantaloons encased 
the legs.” 
I'he blow was to 
descend, too, upon 
the bijouterie de fan¬ 
taisie of the brilli¬ 
ant periods that pre¬ 
ceded the Revolu¬ 
tion—boxes, snuff-boxes, carnets-de-bal, jewel 
caskets, etuis, note-books, vinaigrettes, ring 
lioxes and all those other exquisite productions 
of the jeweler’s art to tempt my lady’s fancy. 
Never before, nor since, the production of 
these delicately beautiful and wonderfully 
wrought objets d’art has the jeweler’s skill ex¬ 
hibited itself in such intrieate 
perfection. Where in all the 
world will one find anything 
rivaling in workmanship such 
works as the marvelous carnets- 
de-bal, those jeweled program 
cases which the ladies of the 
regime of the Louis considered 
inseparable ornaments of the per¬ 
son on nearly all formal oc¬ 
casions ? 
The Notable Collections 
Several notable collections of 
these French program cases, to¬ 
gether with other forms of en¬ 
ameled and jeweled cases and 
boxes, are to be found in the 
great museums of the world. The 
Morgan Collection in the INIetro- 
politan Museum of Art, New 
York, is especially rich in car- 
nets-de-bal as also is the collec¬ 
tion in the Musee du Louvre and 
the Jones Collection in the Vic¬ 
toria and Albert Museum, South 
Kensington, London. The Rothschild Collec¬ 
tion is one of the most important of the private 
ones and IM. Paul Muntz is authority for say¬ 
ing that there were over eight hundred pieces 
of this sort in the jwivate collection of the late 
Prince de Conti. 
But it must not be thought that these grace¬ 
ful reminders of a graceful period exist only 
housed in museums or in great private collec¬ 
tions. There are a number of smaller private 
collectors who coax the hobby of collecting 
these boxes to browse within the fields of their 
own endeavors, and there is always a chance 
that one may find a representative example of 
the 18th Century French jeweler’s work in 
some antique shop specializing in jewelry. 
For many years the “hunt” could scarcely 
be made out of Europe, but in these post- 
bellum days many things are brought to Amer¬ 
ica by our antiquaries for disposal here, and 
that gives the collector who loves to browse 
some hope of finding bits of bijouterie de fan¬ 
taisie that have escaped the eagle-eyes of his 
fellow hobbyists. 
From this interesting class of objects, as 
someone aptly ol)served, “an odor exhales of 
patchouli. One seems to see the silk coats and 
powdered wigs of the frivolous beaux who 
English ISth Cen¬ 
tury gold carnet- 
de-bal 
Beautiful workmanship is found 
in this French I8th Century gold 
and lacquer carnet-dc-bal 
A French carnet-de-bal, of 
period 1774-1792, executed 
gold and lacquer 
could die with a jest 
on their lips; who 
were taught to bear 
success and misfor¬ 
tune with e (j u a 1 
equanimity; to 
whom ever}' woman 
was fair game, and 
who used these pret¬ 
ty boxes to suggest 
tender themes of 
conversation.” 
Their Workmanship 
The bijouterie de 
fantaisie in its vari¬ 
ous forms nearly al¬ 
ways embodied some 
painted decoration, 
either on an enamel 
or on an ivory 
ground. One finds them inset with wonderful 
portrait miniatures, little scenes with shepherds 
and shepherdesses, recreation scenes such as 
inspired Vatteau and Fragonard, gods and 
goddesses, while others were enriched with 
floral subjects or historical scenes. 
Examining fine specimens of this work one 
finds hinges and lids perfect in 
fit, any repousse sharp and with¬ 
out bungling, the enamel flawless 
and the color brilliant. Indeed, 
the French work of the late 18th 
Century was unequalled. The 
Revolution, however, destroyed its 
prestige and drove the master- 
craftsmen who had produced it to 
other countries to seek a living. 
The Empire restored bijouterie de 
fantaisie to favor, but never again 
was the earlier workmanship to 
be rivaled. 
The Makers 
The early examples of boxes 
and cases of this sort, those of the 
Louis XIV period, were ample 
both in dimensions and in style, 
more resembling bonbonnieres 
than the boxes of the later Louis 
periods. With the development 
of the art we find the most noted 
goldsmiths of France devoting 
their skill to these works—Jean 
the 
in 
