Box (one of a pair) (part of a toilet service) 1726 - 1728

Jean-Baptiste Boullemer crafted this silver box, part of a toilet service, sometime before 1739. The most striking feature is surely the classical head in profile, reminiscent of Roman emperors, circled by a laurel wreath, a potent symbol of triumph and status. This echoes motifs stretching back to antiquity, where leaders and heroes were crowned with laurel, immortalized in stone and verse. We see these figures also throughout the Renaissance. Consider the wreath, a cyclical emblem of victory and eternity, encircling the figure's head; it’s a motif of the eternal return, continuously reborn through history. Its constant presence reveals our enduring fascination with power, memory, and the past. This box does more than contain; it encapsulates our connection to the historical, a connection eternally preserved in art.