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Source Description

The Battle of Kunersdorf, an engagement of the Seven Years War, was fought in a small town not far from Frankfurt-am-Oder in 1759. It pitted the joint Austrian and Russian force against the Prussians, led by Frederick the Great. Count Petr Saltykov, whose name appears on the box, led the Russian army, which together with the Austrians won a resounding victory over the Prussians, who suffered fifty percent casualties.Inside the box is a portrait of Elizabeth framed by the inscription: "God Save Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia." This cartouche is painted over banners, cannon, and rifles, symbols of her recent victory. Cannons and banners also decorate the sides. The painting of this whole box is not nearly as sophisticated as miniatures by Musikiiskii, but closer to the naive painting of the Rostov enamels. Boxes such as this are more important for their historical than their artistic interest. That this victory was significant for the Russians is evident from the fact that there are many boxes with this same scene, one in the State History Museum in Moscow. Given their seemingly hasty painting, they must have been turned out as souvenirs. This was the case with similar boxes made in Berlin which Frederick the Great used for propaganda purposes (Hawes and Corsiglia, "The Rita and Fritz Markus Collection of European Ceramics & Enamels," Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1984, p. 253-4).

Scholar Source Context

Document identity
localId
23848
label
Snuffbox with the Battle of Kunersdorf
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
3
Source metadata
id
23848
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Snuffbox with the Battle of Kunersdorf
description
The Battle of Kunersdorf, an engagement of the Seven Years War, was fought in a small town not far from Frankfurt-am-Oder in 1759. It pitted the joint Austrian and Russian force against the Prussians, led by Frederick the Great. Count Petr Saltykov, whose name appears on the box, led the Russian army, which together with the Austrians won a resounding victory over the Prussians, who suffered fifty percent casualties.Inside the box is a portrait of Elizabeth framed by the inscription: "God Save Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia." This cartouche is painted over banners, cannon, and rifles, symbols of her recent victory. Cannons and banners also decorate the sides. The painting of this whole box is not nearly as sophisticated as miniatures by Musikiiskii, but closer to the naive painting of the Rostov enamels. Boxes such as this are more important for their historical than their artistic interest. That this victory was significant for the Russians is evident from the fact that there are many boxes with this same scene, one in the State History Museum in Moscow. Given their seemingly hasty painting, they must have been turned out as souvenirs. This was the case with similar boxes made in Berlin which Frederick the Great used for propaganda purposes (Hawes and Corsiglia, "The Rita and Fritz Markus Collection of European Ceramics & Enamels," Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1984, p. 253-4).
provenance
Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1927, by purchase [in Paris]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
ca. 1760
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Enamels
snuffboxes
imageCount
3
pageCount
3
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
3.6
height
8.1
depth
6.6
dimensionsRaw
H: 1 7/16 x W: 3 3/16 x D: 2 5/8 in. (3.6 x 8.1 x 6.61 cm)
Source extras
inscriptions
[Translation] Top: Kunersdorf
Saltykov
Victory; [Translation] Inside lid: God Save Elizabeth
Empress of All Russia
reign
Elizabeth I (1741-1762)
med
painted enamel, copper gilt
creator_ids
6214
collection_ids
EAN
exhibition_ids
956
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
d876864632eaec35
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
ee84c42c38096d62
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
3
type
photo
mediaId
d8d6afed2e75c533
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no