Papier mâché, black lacquer ground with polychrome oil painting
Brunswick, first third of the 19th century
Presumably Stobwasser Factory (1740-1863) – Manufacturer for lacquer goods
On the inside of the lid titled by hand ‘The Chalybeate’ and numbered ‘5990. ‘ as well as with a label numbered ‘163’
Round box with the portrait of a beautiful young girl in an idyllic landscape
Diameter: 10 cm
Very good condition
A tobacco box with a lovely depiction of a young beauty that is worth collecting

The fine box, presumably made by the Stobwasser manufactory, depicts the portrait of a beautiful young woman in a low-cut dress with a white scarf and a lush red cape before of an atmospheric landscape with a river and wide clouded sky. The term ‘Chalybeate’ refers to a resort with a ferruginous mineral spring in Thetford, England.

Comparable pieces are listed in Richter’s online catalog raisonné of Brunswick lacquer ware.

Literature: cf. Detlev Richter, Lackdosen, München 1988, p. 33, fig. 35; Jürgen Glanz, Historisches und Frivoles auf Lackdosen, Hamburg 1999, p.70, fig. 1

The tobacco box is titled by hand ‘The Chalybeate’ as well as numbered ‘5990. ‘ and bears a label numbered ‘163’ on the inside of the lid. It is in very good condition with light signs of age and wear. There is light craquelure to the surface of the lid. The lower part of the box is possibly a later addition. The diameter is 10 cm.

Stobwasser Factory (1740-1863)

The manufactory Stobwasser was established in 1740 by Georg Siegmund Eustachius Stobwasser. Georg Stobwasser started trading haberdashery; the trading of lacquered goods was introduced by his son Johann Heinrich Stobwasser in 1757. In the 1760s the Bayreuth margrave Friedrich III commissioned a large number of lacquered boxes as well as drinking vessels and cups. In 1762 the entire Stobwasser family moved to Brunswick on the wish of the Duke Carl I., who promised them some money for production, citizenship as well as free accommodation. After having a few difficulties, business soon picked up and the repertoire of lacquered goods extended. Shell pouches, drinking vessels, snuff boxes and even furniture was part of their range. In 1768 Stobwasser was commissioned to lacquer the state carriage of Friedrich the Great. Thereon the company gained the sole privilege of calling their goods ‘Brunswick lacquer ware’.

The products were laboriously crafted from papier mâché, wood and rolled tin plate and iron sheet. To guarantee the high quality of the décor Stobwasser opened its own painting school in 1780 run by the renowned Brunswick artist Pascha Johann Friedrich Weitsch (1723-1803). (tfa)

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