Offered by Ouaiss Antiquités
Exceptional three-tone gold cigarette case. The case opens to reveal two compartments. The top compartment for cigarettes and the bottom compartment containing a match scraper and a match holder. The upper part is decorated on one side with fauns blowing a horn and on the other with putti playing musical instruments. On one side of the main body is a heraldic decoration in enamel: a coat of arms with three martlets Sable, bordered by a Dauphiné and an eagle. The coat of arms is surmounted by a ducal crown set with rose-cut diamonds and stones. Around the coat of arms is a symmetrical decoration of floral garlands, foliage set with fine stones and a cartouche featuring a lily on a gold background.
On the other side, on either side of the monogram M-S (Morny-Sophie) set with diamonds, is a bust portrait of the Duke of Morny and two of his children: Auguste and Charlotte. The portraits are framed by floral garlands and two birds with outstretched wings surrounding a nest of chicks.
The lower part of the case is decorated with smoking monkeys on either side of a perfume burner, and doves near a flower basket on the other side. The case is signed WIESE PARIS. Second Empire period.
Hallmark: two owls.
Jules Wiese was trained in Berlin by the goldsmith of the court, JG Hossauer. In 1839, he came to Paris to work for François Désiré Froment-Meurice, one of the most eminent jewelers and goldsmiths of the nineteenth century. In 1844 he had settled alone, although he continued to work for Froment-Meurice. The exhibition of 1855 is the first to which he exposes himself. He won a medal of honor at the London World's Fair in 1862. He bequeathed his studio to his son Louis Wiese in 1880.
Charles Auguste Louis Joseph Demorny, said Count de Morny, became Duke of Morny (1811-1865) son of Horthense de Beauharnais and Charles de Flahaut, half-brother of Napoleon III. He married Princess Sophie Trubetskoy.
H: 3.9 in. (10 cm) / L: 2 in. (5.3 cm) / l: 0.5 in. (1.3 cm).
Weight: 3.42 oz (97 g).
