Leningrad State Hermitage (main collection)
Enamelled Silver Jewellery Box with Lid
circa 1679
Vibrant, dainty and immaculate. Rather like musical notes eloquently drawn along their registered sheets, each flower head garnishing this box stretches and un-furls in a similar, albeit mirrored, fashion. They sing of a time that is now past; of a lady (or man) whose wearable treasures once happily nestled within the safety of their miniature confines. They silently relate to us their unified story of all that they have yet seen, even though we may only ‘hear’ it through studying and questioning their aged, weathered faces. Sinuous and sweet, the flowers’ enamelled complexions grace the box like twelve separate caryatids, each in its own niche of individual prominence and each, undoubtedly, an invaluable chapter fortifying the memory of s/he whose hands lovingly created the box from the very beginning.
