Miniature paintings depicting intricate still lives enjoyed a surge in popularity in late eighteenth-/early nineteenth-century Europe. These compositions, all rich in symbolism, conveyed themes of abundance, transience and the overall ephemeral beauty of nature. They were profoundly influenced by the seventeenth-century Dutch tradition, who still-life paintings, or Vanitas as they were often called, were symbolic works about the brevity of life and the vanity of worldly pursuits. Each object would have had a distinct iconographic symbolism with moralistic undertones. Despite being formalized as a distinct genre by the French Academy in the late seventeenth-century, still-life painting occupied a lower rank in the hierarchy of artistic genres. The tradition of the subject matter continued to evolve through the Baroque and Rococo periods, with floral motifs permeating various forms of art and design, from paintings to curtains, furniture, and wallpaper.

This pair of enamel miniatures have been attributed to Louis Pautex, who lived and worked in Geneva. Another enamel still life by Pautex can be found in the Museum of Art and History in Geneva [AD 0087/013]. Pautex gained a great reputation for his flower paintings in enamel, although he seems to have also worked in oils and watercolour. He is also known to have painted genre scenes.

The bright colours within the leaves and fruit in these still lives reflect a development in the later style of enamel. Examples of enamelling in the later eighteenth century show a move away from more delicate French pastels, exemplified by the Huard family, also from Switzerland, known for their enamel watch cases[1]. Subjects also became bolder, not only of pastoral scenes but of still lives, as in the present enamels, or even more daring erotic scenes, seen on interiors of snuff boxes[2]. The present still lives may also include symbolism; the bird depicted three times over the pair may be a European Goldfinch, a signifier of the Passion, often depicted next to symbols of vice, here represented by the glass of wine. Similar subjects were also painted by the Dutch master of miniature still-lives in watercolour (either on ivory supports or fixé-sous-verre), Cornelis van Spaendonck (1756-1840). His compositions also featured goldfinches,but were usually full with blooming roses and summer flowers.

A similar miniature was previously held in the collection of Lord and Lady Fairhaven, known for their donation of a large amount of botanic art to the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. The fruit featured, as well as the birds and the composition of these on top of a stone slab and next to piece of leaning wood, suggest the same hand, if not the same inspiration, of an exciting move away from traditional painted enamels.

[1] Christie’s, ‘‘Beautiful pieces can be found for relatively modest prices’: how to collect enamel pocket watches’, 29th April 2021, https://www.christies.com/en/stories/how-to-collect-enamel-pocket-watches-658a78b18b664560b92075cb8a8961b5, accessed 27th March 2024. The Huard family of enamellers included Pierre Huard the Elder, and his sons Pierre Huard the Younger, Jean-Pierre and Ami Huard.

[2] Bonhams, London, 21 November 2012, lot 25.