gold and enamel snuffbox
Adrien Vachette was a French jeweler of the 18th and 19th centuries, best known as the creator of the so-called Wonderful Medallion.
Vachette was one of the most famous and prolific craftsmen of his generation. He was appointed court jeweler and supplier to the court of King Louis XVIII. Gold, tortoise shell, enamel, precious stones and ornamental stones were used extensively in the creations of Vachette, particularly in the many precious snuffboxes that were in fashion at the time.
However, he became famous at a very advanced age, when he was almost 80 years old. Paris at the time was experiencing a cholera epidemic and a period of political instability. The Archbishop of Paris, Iasent-Louis de Quelan, had the idea of solving these problems by a miracle. At his behest, Vachette designed a "miraculous medallion" depicting Our Lady. Between 1832 and 1836, more than two million copies were distributed. At the same time, Archbishop Kaelan and his clergy were active in the fight against cholera. All in all, this contributed to the growth of religiosity and respect for the church in France, and the marvelous medallions of Vachette's design continue to be minted and distributed in many Western countries to this day.
Charles Le Bastier, son of a Paris mercer of the same name, was apprenticed on 3 October 1738 at the age of 14, to Gabriel Vougny, marchand-orfèvre-joaillier. With the sponsorship of Jean Moynat, himself a noted gold box maker, Le Bastier became master goldsmith on 20 December 1754. He worked from the same premises in the rue Thévenot, near the rue St-Denis, until last recorded in 1783. Le Bastier was a successful and prolific maker of gold boxes who also supplied other retailers such as Jean-François Garand and Grancher of Du Petit Dunkerque, whose name or shop name appear engraved on the rims of several of Le Bastier's boxes. In the special tax list of 1774, he was listed 9th in order of the importance of his business. Since a number of Le Bastier's boxes survive in various collections (most notably in the Louvre and the Thurn und Taxis Museum, Regensburg), it is possible to trace the progression of his work from the earliest silver boxes with coloured gold ornament through a series of richly chased but comparatively plain gold boxes to the almost immediately recognisable gold and enamel boxes of his maturity.