Silver Travel Tea Caddy By François Joubert, Paris, 1757

- Travel tea box
- Hammered, soldered and engraved silver
- François Joubert: received master goldsmith on September 6, 1749 until 1793 (for the box) and Pierre-Jacques Marteau, goldsmith from March 19, 1757 to 1779 (for the lid)
- Paris, 1757
- Height: 9.9 cm; width: 5.8 cm; length: 7 cm; weight: 210 g
- Very good condition

- Rectangular tea box with a molded border forming the slide of the lid. One side bears the county coat of arms flanked by two lions: azure with three gold arrowheads placed in two and one, with a gold chevron and crescent in chief of the same.

- Rectangular tea box from a travel set made in collaboration between an experienced goldsmith, François Joubert and a young goldsmith for the lid, Pierre-Jacques Marteau. It seems that François Joubert, beyond the prestigious pieces that were commissioned from him, produced silver pieces for travel boxes: a pair of silver-gilt sponge balls, a travel stove from the necessities of Queen Marie-Antoinette, made in collaboration with the goldsmiths Jean-Pierre Charpenat and Guillaume Gouffé [Musée du Louvre, Inv.OA9594-1 to 66] and a tea box, of a smaller model than this one presented at the exhibition at the Galerie Lucien Blanc in 1954 [GLB, n°104 reproduction p.52].

- Hallmarks (on the bottom): Master goldsmith (under the box): F, J with a crowned heart, for François Joubert master goldsmith from 1749 to 1793 [Nocq T.II p.361] & master goldsmith (on the lid and its molding): PJM with a hammer for Pierre-Jacques Marteau master goldsmith from March 19, 1757 until 1779 [Nocq, T.III pp.203-204]; charge (under the box): A fleuronné and crowned for large silver works, Paris from October 1, 1756 to October 1, 1762 [BP, n°427]; Jurande: Q crowned, Paris from July 20, 1756 to July 16, 1757 [BP, n°438]; discharge (on the edge of the body, on the lid): a scallop shell for gold and small silver works, Paris, from October 1, 1756 to October 1, 1762 [BP, no. 430]; discharge (on the edge of the body, on the lid): a fly for small old gold and silver works, Paris, from October 1, 1762 to October 1, 1768 [BP, no. 452]; guarantee: head of Michelangelo with 84, 1819-1838 and control with the boar's head. - François Joubert, son of a master goldsmith, had his hallmark inscribed on September 6, 1749 with the guarantee of Pierre-Ayme Joubert. It remained at Cour Lamoignon “A la tête noire” until 1766, when it was found at Cour-Neuve-du-Palais, then again at Cour Lamoignon in 1781. It was still listed at both addresses until 1793. In 1774, on the 20th arrondissement tax roll, it was ranked 187th for its turnover. A talented goldsmith with impeccable execution, it is quite natural to find his works in the most prestigious public and private collections: a pair of sauceboats from 1754 with the coat of arms of the Marquise de Pompadour (probably apocryphal) from the Burat collection, at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris (MAD) [4, n°126] or a teapot and its tray with twisted ribs dated 1765 from the Pichon collection held at the MAD [4, n°129], the terrines with the coat of arms of the Marquis de Bournazel from the Louvre Museum (OA.9668) and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris [4, n°127] each from the Puiforcat and Burat collection…

Ref. : [BP] Bimbenet-Privat & Fontaines : "La datation de l’orfèvrerie parisienne sous l’ancien régime", Paris musées, 1995 ; [BPF] Bimbenet-Privat & Furhing : "La collection Jourdan-Barry", Kugel, 2005 ; [FD] Dennis, Faith : "Three centuries of French Domestic silver. Its makers and its marks", 2 vol., The Metropolitan Museum, New York, 1960 ; [Nocq] Nocq, Henri : "Répertoire des maîtres-orfèvres de la juridiction de Paris depuis le Moyen-Âge jusqu'à la fin du dix-huitième siècle", 5 Tomes, 1926 ; [GM] Mabille, Gérard : "Orfèvrerie française des XVIe, XVIIe, XVIIIe siècles…", Flammarion, 1993 : [LB] Galerie Lucien Blanc : exposition de « L’orfèvrerie civile en France au XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles », exposition du 10 juillet au 10 août 1954, Aix-en-Provence, 1954  August 10, 1954, Aix-en-Provence, 1954