The royal family at the Temple prison, early 19th century snuffbox
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The royal family at the Temple prison, early 19th century snuffbox
Boiled cardboard snuffbox, possibly featuring the Templar enclosure in Paris on one side and the Tour du Temple on the other.
Inside, portraits of King Louis XVI, Queen Marie-Antoinette (guillotined in 1793) and Dauphin Louis-Charles (died of tuberculosis in 1795).
On the side of the Tour du Temple, where the royal family was imprisoned during the French Revolution from 1792 onwards, the profiles of the queen and king can be seen in the clouds. The Tour du Temple was destroyed by Napoleon in 1808-1810 to prevent it from becoming a royalist pilgrimage site.
On the enclos des Templiers side, a woman accompanied by a dog (fidelity?) points out cypress trees to a child. This could be a reference to Madame Royale (Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte, Louis XVI's only surviving child, imprisoned at the Temple from 1792 to 1795) who, on her return to France under the Restoration in 1814, was keen to pay tribute to her parents by planting cypress trees and a weeping willow. Here, too, the profiles of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette can be seen in the clouds, as well as those of Louis XVII (Louis-Charles died in the Temple in 1795) and Madame Elisabeth (King's sister).
Condition: minor damage and rubbing
D : 7 cm
Inside, portraits of King Louis XVI, Queen Marie-Antoinette (guillotined in 1793) and Dauphin Louis-Charles (died of tuberculosis in 1795).
On the side of the Tour du Temple, where the royal family was imprisoned during the French Revolution from 1792 onwards, the profiles of the queen and king can be seen in the clouds. The Tour du Temple was destroyed by Napoleon in 1808-1810 to prevent it from becoming a royalist pilgrimage site.
On the enclos des Templiers side, a woman accompanied by a dog (fidelity?) points out cypress trees to a child. This could be a reference to Madame Royale (Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte, Louis XVI's only surviving child, imprisoned at the Temple from 1792 to 1795) who, on her return to France under the Restoration in 1814, was keen to pay tribute to her parents by planting cypress trees and a weeping willow. Here, too, the profiles of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette can be seen in the clouds, as well as those of Louis XVII (Louis-Charles died in the Temple in 1795) and Madame Elisabeth (King's sister).
Condition: minor damage and rubbing
D : 7 cm
