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A 19th c. Puss in Boots gilt-metal fob seal with carnelian intaglio "Le diable emporte l'Amour".

£ 1000

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A 19th c. Puss in Boots gilt-metal fob seal with carnelian intaglio "Le diable emporte l'Amour".

£ 1000

Carnelian intaglio 13 × 16 mm
Gilt-metal fob seal with suspension ring – overall height 26 mm
Gross weight 5.15 g.
France, second quarter of the 19th century (c. 1825–1850).

A gilt-metal fob seal, the handle cast as Puss in Boots standing on an oval base: the cat wears a coat with turned-back sleeves and high boots with cuffs, a game bag slung on a strap across the chest, and holds his catch against his body; a suspension ring rises from the head. The base is set with an oval carnelian, flat-cut and bevelled, engraved in intaglio for sealing (the inscription reads correctly in the wax impression).

The stone shows a devil striding to the right, horned, with a satyr's hairy goat-legs and a looped, arrow-tipped tail, leaning on a long two-pronged fork. On his shoulders he carries a winged Cupid, who clings to his neck. Around the edge, the motto LE DIABLE EMPORTE L'AMOUR. Groundline.

Historical context
The fob seal and the motto seal The fob seal (cachet-breloque) hung from the watch chain and was the everyday instrument of private correspondence until the envelope and the gummed stamp made wax obsolete around 1850. Under the Restoration and the July Monarchy, Paris produced these in quantity: cast handles in gilt bronze or pinchbeck, and carnelian matrices engraved with devises — witty or galant mottoes rather than arms. The lettering and the humour of this stone belong to that moment. Perrault's Le Maître Chat, ou le Chat botté (1697) had become, through Épinal prints and illustrated editions, one of the most familiar figures of French popular imagery, well before Gustave Doré's plates of 1862.

Iconography and symbolism
The motto plays on a curse and an image. "Que le diable emporte l'amour" is what one says when renouncing love; the engraver takes it literally and shows the devil carrying Cupid off. This devil is a satyr in all but name — horns, goat-legs, the body of Pan — and the ancients had already set Pan against Eros: the Delos group of Aphrodite, Pan and Eros (c. 100 BC, Athens, National Archaeological Museum) and the many Roman marbles of Pan and Eros wrestling, where Love always wins, as Virgil's omnia vincit Amor promised. Here the outcome is reversed, and Love rides on the back of the beast. The cat of the handle, Perrault's trickster who makes a marquis out of a miller's son, adds a second sly servant: two figures who carry off what they were never given.

Each piece of jewellery is delivered with an authentification certificate signed by Bianca Massard and Gabriele Vangelli de Cresci experts, including additional documentation if existing and exhaustive description of the piece.
Pictures are part of the description and show state of conservation of the item. For additional pictures please contact us. (see contact section)

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Our exclusive delivery partner is ThePackengers.
ThePackengers, specialized in the packaging and transport of works of art and collectibles, already collaborates with the largest auction houses as Drouot, but also with galleries, fairs, antique dealers, decorators and e-marketplaces.
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Each piece of jewellery is delivered with an authentification certificate signed by Bianca Massard and Gabriele Vangelli de Cresci experts, including additional documentation if existing and exhaustive description of the piece.
Pictures are part of the description and show state of conservation of the item. For additional pictures please contact us. (see contact section)

Shipping and pick-up at the store options can be chosen during check out.

Our exclusive delivery partner is ThePackengers.
ThePackengers, specialized in the packaging and transport of works of art and collectibles, already collaborates with the largest auction houses as Drouot, but also with galleries, fairs, antique dealers, decorators and e-marketplaces.
See our Country List
Shipping Terms and Conditions.
Privacy Policy ThePackengers.

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