Museum Louis XV gold mother-of-pearl tabatiere with allegorical scenes by Thomas-Pierre Breton Rectangular shape "à cage" with flamed gold mounting. The wall is decorated all over with extremely fine, scenic, polychrome landscape painting and depictions of sheep, birds and architectural elements. The finest mother-of-pearl panels of varying thicknesses are cut in layers on top. Almost transparent, wafer-thin surfaces with a delicate green-violet iridescent lustre allow the painting behind them to shine through and alternate with thicker mother-of-pearl elements worked out in relief in the form of C-sweeps, shellwork, garlands of flowers and antiqued columns. Corresponding decorative elements and various allegorical scenes with putti and animals made of gold are inlaid. The exquisite and skilful cutting technique with layered mother-of-pearl and gold accents as well as the translucent mother-of-pearl in front of the finest painting evokes an impressive spatial depth. Marked by Master Thomas-Pierre Breton, Louis Robin's (1738-1744) foam mark and the year letter "C" under a crown. Parisian guarantee mark since 1738. 153 g. Weight. H. 3.5 cm. 7.5 cm x 5.5 cm. Provenance: from the important collection of the Frankfurt banking family von Bethmann, which grew over generations. Thomas-Pierre Breton became a master in Paris in 1739 and died around 1766. Objects by the master can be found in the Louvre in Paris (inv. no. OA 10878) and in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London (inv. no. 338-2008). Other comparable tabatiers with mother-of-pearl and gold decorations belong to the jewels of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Wallace Collection in London. Cf. Claire Le Corbeiller: "Alte Tabakdosen aus Europa und Amerika", Munich, 1966, ill. 22 f, 246, 247; Charles Truman, The Gilbert Collection of Gold Boxes, vol. I, Los Angeles, 1991, no. 6; also A. Kenneth Snowman: "Eightenth-Century Gold-boxes of Europe", London 1966, fig. 113A; Tardy, pp. 89, 161; Rosenberg, vol. IV, nos. 6500, 6595. A magnificent French Louis XV gold and mother of pearl snuff box with allegorical scenes by Thomas-Pierre Breton. Assay and master's mark, date letter. Guarantee mark since 1738. France. Paris. Circa 1744.