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Lot Essay
Gioacchino Barberi (1783-1857) who worked in Rome at 99 Piazza de Spagna, near the Spanish steps, was recorded in 1847 by G. Moroni (Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica, Venice, 1847, XLVII, pp. 79-80) as one of the leading artists of miniature micromosaics. An enamelled gold snuff-box by Jean-François Bautte & Co. set with a signed micromosaic by Barberi depicting a pair of small Spitz in lion clip on a leopard skin was sold Christie's, London, 22 May 2001, lot 250.
A gold snuff-box by Moulinie, Bautte et Moynier set with a signed micromosaic by Barberi and depicting a spaniel lying with two dead pigeons at its side, within a landscape was sold at Christie's, London, 6 December 2005, lot 26.
A further example, a vari-coloured gold bonbonnière by Alexander James Strachan set with a signed micromosaic by Barberi of a dog and a cat fighting in a landscape is in The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection now at the Victoria and Albert Museum, see C. Truman, The Gilbert Collection of Gold Boxes, Volume I., Los Angeles, 1991, pp. 328-329.
For more information on the Barberi family, see J. Hanisee Gabriel, The Gilbert Collection. Micromosaics, London, 2000, pp. 281-282.
"The Spaniel is gentle loving and courteous to man more than any other dog, of free untiring ranging, beating a full course over and over, which he does with a wanton playing taile and a busie labouring noise, neither desisting nor showing less delight in his labours at night than he did in the morning" This was quoted by 17th Century Sportsman Richard Surflet about the original Spaniel before they evolved in to different types. Spaniel type dogs have been found in art and literature for almost 500 years. Initially, spaniels in England were divided among land spaniels and water spaniels. The differentiation among the spaniels that led to the breeds that we see today did not begin until the mid-19th century.
A gold snuff-box by Moulinie, Bautte et Moynier set with a signed micromosaic by Barberi and depicting a spaniel lying with two dead pigeons at its side, within a landscape was sold at Christie's, London, 6 December 2005, lot 26.
A further example, a vari-coloured gold bonbonnière by Alexander James Strachan set with a signed micromosaic by Barberi of a dog and a cat fighting in a landscape is in The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection now at the Victoria and Albert Museum, see C. Truman, The Gilbert Collection of Gold Boxes, Volume I., Los Angeles, 1991, pp. 328-329.
For more information on the Barberi family, see J. Hanisee Gabriel, The Gilbert Collection. Micromosaics, London, 2000, pp. 281-282.
"The Spaniel is gentle loving and courteous to man more than any other dog, of free untiring ranging, beating a full course over and over, which he does with a wanton playing taile and a busie labouring noise, neither desisting nor showing less delight in his labours at night than he did in the morning" This was quoted by 17th Century Sportsman Richard Surflet about the original Spaniel before they evolved in to different types. Spaniel type dogs have been found in art and literature for almost 500 years. Initially, spaniels in England were divided among land spaniels and water spaniels. The differentiation among the spaniels that led to the breeds that we see today did not begin until the mid-19th century.