{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O157803"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O157803/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2008BU2613/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2008BU2613/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2008BU2613","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London/ © the Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Collection, on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London ","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2008BU2579","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London/ © the Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Collection, on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London ","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2008BU2578","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London/ © the Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Collection, on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London ","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2008BU2311","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London/ © the Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Collection, on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London ","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2008BU2310","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London/ © the Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Collection, on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London ","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O157803/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O157803","accessionNumber":"LOAN:GILBERT.1033:1 to 2-2008","objectType":"Bonbonnière","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Boxes without hinges are today described as <i>bonbonnières</i>, used for dragées or bonbons, from which the name derives. The cover is set with a plaque decorated with a scene from Jean de La Fontaine's fable of the fox and crane. De La Fontaine (1621-95) became famous for his moral fables, which remain popular in France to this day. \n\nNew industrial techniques developed in the second half of the 18th century led to the production of snuffboxes in the lavish styles of themost fashionable goldsmiths, but made using modest materials. In France, a popular technique called <i>poudre d'écaille</i> was developed, where powdered pigments were amalgamated with glue. In this example, the <i>poudre d'écaille</i> has been applied with gold and silver <i>pliqué. </i>\r\n\r\nInside the lid, an inscription records that the box was once owned by John Zephaniah Holwell (1711-98). Governor of Bengal, he was responsible for the collection of taxes from the Twenty-four Villages at Calcutta. On  June 20, 1756, he defended the town against an uprising led by Suraj-ud-Dowlah, the nawab of Bengal but had to surrender the garrison. Holwell and another 146 prisoners were locked in a small guardroom, measuring only 14 by 18 feet, despite the stifling heat. Holwell was one of just 23 survivors, leading to the room being later known as the infamous Black Hole of Calcutta.\r\n\r\nSir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes.  Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.","physicalDescription":"Circular gold-mounted bonbonnière, the cover set with a circular plaque chased with a scene from Aesop's fable of the fox and the crane, and enamelled in blue, within a laurel border. The cover, walls, and base are of red composition with silver circles and three-colour gold carnations, with borders pierced with a Greek key pattern.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"gold","id":"AAT11021"},{"text":"enamel","id":"AAT14910"},{"text":"silver","id":"AAT11029"}],"techniques":[{"text":"raising","id":"AAT237068"},{"text":"chasing","id":"AAT54016"},{"text":"piercing","id":"AAT231153"},{"text":"enamelling","id":"x37485"},{"text":"setting","id":"x42734"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Raised, chased, pierced, varicoloured and enamelled gold with applied silver circles","categories":[{"text":"Metalwork","id":"THES48920"},{"text":"Containers","id":"THES48972"},{"text":"Personal accessories","id":"THES48912"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2008BU2613","2008BU2579","2008BU2578","2008BU2311","2008BU2310"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"71","id":"THES49723"},"free":"","case":"CA009","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"71","id":"THES49723"},"free":"","case":"CA009","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"bonbonniere base","id":""}],[{"text":"bonbonniere cover","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Paris","id":"x29068"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1764-1765","earliest":"1764-01-01","latest":"1765-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"6.9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"3.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Measured 19/02/24 IW ","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"'This Box belonged to / GOVERNOR HOLWELL / who commanded at / CALCUTTA / one of the 23 Survivors / of 146 immured in the BLACK HOLE / of that Fortress / 1756.'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Engraved inside lid"},{"content":"Illegible mark of a Parisian goldsmith","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"On the rim of the base"},{"content":"Charge mark of the <i>adjudicataire des fermes générales unies</i> Jean-Jacques Prévost, Paris, November 22 1762 - December 22, 1768","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"On the rim of the base"},{"content":"Warden's mark for Paris, July 18, 1764 - July 2, 1765","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"On the rim of the base"},{"content":"Discharge mark of Jean-Jacques Prévost, 1762-8","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"On the rim of the base"}],"objectHistory":"Provenance: Mrs.  Elizabeth Parke Firestone, sale, Christie's, New York, lot 41, November 19, 1982.  S.J.  Phillips, London.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Bonbonnière, gold, red enamel, silver and composition, Paris, 1764-65","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Truman, Charles.<u>The Gilbert collection of gold boxes</u>, Vol. I. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1991, cat. no. 20, pp. 77-8.  ISBN.0875871623"},{"reference":{"text":"<i>The art of the goldsmith & the jeweler; a loan exhibition for the benefit of the Young Women's Christian Association of the City of New York</i>, New York : A La Vieille Russie, 1968","id":"AUTH357879"},"details":"84","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Minter, Alice et al. <u>Masterpieces in Miniature: Treasures from the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection.</u> London: V&A Publishing, 2021, p.70, cat.48"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"fox","id":"x34612"},{"text":"crane (bird)","id":"x30094"},{"text":"laurel (foliage)","id":"x39040"},{"text":"carnations","id":"x30499"},{"text":"key pattern","id":"AAT10163"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":["Jean La Fontaine's fable of the fox and the crane"],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"5. Bonbonnière with Aesop’s fable of the fox and crane, 1764–65\r\n\r\nMuseum no. Loan:Gilbert.1033:1, 2-2008","date":{"text":"16/11/2016","earliest":"2016-11-16","latest":"2016-11-16"}}],"partNumbers":["LOAN:GILBERT.1033:1-2008","LOAN:GILBERT.1033:2-2008"],"accessionNumberNum":"1033","accessionNumberPrefix":"LOAN:GILBERT","accessionYear":2008,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"Arthur Gilbert Number","id":"THES50383"},"number":"GB 73"},{"type":{"text":"Arthur Gilbert Number","id":"THES50383"},"number":"MM 259"},{"type":{"text":"The Gilbert Collection, Somerset House","id":"THES50384"},"number":"1996.629"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","bonbonniere base","bonbonniere cover"],"assets":["2025PF6246","2025PF6245","2025PF6244","2018LC2918","2019LP5743","2019LP2941","2019LT6531","2019LT5207","2019LU3509","2019LX0583"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-05-18","recordCreationDate":"2008-06-26","availableToBook":false}}