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Snuff Box (Tabatière) with Portrait of Marie-Thérèse of Austria
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
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.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineSnuff Box (Tabatière) with Portrait of Marie-Thérèse of Austria, miniature, c. 1676; box, 1775–76. Jean Petitot (Swiss, 1607–1691), Charles Le Bastier (French). Gold, enamel, and miniature; overall: 2.3 x 4.5 cm (7/8 x 1 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Edward B. Greene, 1957.405
