March, 1920 
27 
Ducrollay 
(1734), Jean- 
Charles Ducrol- 
hi}- ( 1 7 3 7 ), 
Pierre - Joseph 
Antoine (1739), 
Jean Moynat 
( 1745),Charles- 
Barnabe Sage- 
ret ( 1 7 5 2 ), 
Jean George 
( 1752), Pierre- 
Jean Bellange 
(1752), Pierre- 
Jean Lenfant 
(1772) and, 
over a decade 
later, B a r 1) e 
( 1 784). AVe 
have record of 
a d a m e d e 
Pompadour 
luiving cither bought or having had mended at 
Devaux’s a carnet-de-bal. 
These program cases were used not only in 
the ballroom to contain the memoranda of 
dance partners written on the ivory sheets the 
carnet-de-bal enclosed, but they were carried 
to the opera and on other occasions as well, 
being quite as often used as gen¬ 
eral memoranda cases, althougli 
special memoranda cases were 
also devised for the purpose, 
which note-books were quite as 
delicate and quite as elaborate 
and rich as the program cases, 
being, like them, of true gold¬ 
smith’s work, chased, emplo}ing 
gold of various colors, enameled, 
and enriched with paste or with 
precious gems, pearls being the 
favorite gem for the purpose. 
Concerning the Insets 
A curious fact concerning the 
miniatures inset in this work is 
that one is apt to come across a 
tortoise-shell box of the simplest 
sort containing a truly remarkable 
miniature of the greatest beauty 
and to find an exquisite example 
of the goldsmith’s art inset with 
a very disappointing, mediocre 
portrait miniature. Petitot painted 
medallions of many enameled 
boxes, and Degault was one of tlie artists who 
so successfully imitated, in miniature, bas- 
reliefs on ivory. The subjects done all in 
tones of gray (grisailles) were one of Larue’s 
specialties. Numerous examples exist of mini¬ 
ature copies of pastorals by AA’atteau and Ijy 
Lancrct, wliile some boxes reproduce in minia¬ 
ture copies of paintings by Teniers and of other 
Tlemish painters. The field for subject selec¬ 
tion appears to have been endless. 
In the earlier boxes and cases, diamonds, 
when inset, had separate settings. In later 
examples the work of insetting showed no sepa¬ 
rate settings. Ribbon-bows of diamonds were 
verv much in vogue as ornament forms up to 
17.15. 
Directoire and Empire Styles 
During the i)eriod of the Directoire ( 1795- 
1 799) the taste for the antique was accentuated. 
Phis gave rise to the Empire style. It was 
now that the bijouterie de fantaisie degenerated 
in workmanship as well as in design. Indif¬ 
ferent cameos, moss agates, low-grade gold or 
Pinchbeck were introduced in the making. As 
cameos were the Empress Josephine’s particu¬ 
lar delight, a perfect wave of cameo-wearing 
spread through Erance and those countries 
which looked to Paris as arbiter of the fash¬ 
ions. The bijou¬ 
terie de fantaisie 
did not escape 
this cameo mania 
but lent itself to 
the vogue of the 
day. The jeweler 
of the Directoire 
appears to have 
lost the skill so 
marked in the 
discijdes of Jean 
Bourguet (1712- 
1723), writer of a 
Livre de Taille 
d’Epargne which 
^v as long the 
guide for jewelers 
and apprentices. 
H istoric orna¬ 
ment has left its 
cL'linite imj)ress 
on the styles of bijouterie de fantaisie. The 
discovery in 1713 of Herculaneum resulted in 
the classicism of the Louis XVI period, and 
the discovery of Pompeii had also its effect 
upon Erencli ornament. The early 18th Cen¬ 
tury boxes were especially marked by floral 
pattern and design while the later ones were 
more formal in conception. 
The Rage for Blue Glass 
One of the interesting side¬ 
lights which illuminate this sub¬ 
ject is M. Eontenoy’s description 
of the rage for blue glass and for 
dark blue (cobalt) enamel that 
led so many objects such as car- 
nets-dc-bal to this color scheme. 
He tells us that people were not 
content with using blue enamel on 
everything; but made jewels in 
blue glass. Brooches and chate¬ 
laines with seals and keys set 
round with little diamonds, and 
intertwined initials, hearts, crowns 
and flowers in the center. Turtle 
doves and woolly white lambs, the 
natural inhabitants of the blue 
landscape, were not lacking to 
complete the emblems of a senti¬ 
mental philosophy. And senti¬ 
mental it was, indeed, as the 
bijouterie de fantaisie of the time 
discloses. 
The owner’s monogram is often A gold frame holds pastoral 
worked into the design of the plaques in this ISth Century 
carnet-de-bal French design 
Delicate chasing is 
found on these little 
trifles of l&th Century 
France 
Gold and porcelain comprise this The Chinese influence is seen in Onyx, gold and lacquer are used 
French design of the epoch 1768- this gold and lacquer case of in this French \?>th Century de- 
1774 1774-1792 sign 
One English I8th Century carnet- 
de-bal is a little gold book with 
a flower design 
