Master Art

This cartouche-shaped snuffbox with moulded relief decoration has bulbous sides and a cambered lid. The lid and the sides are both decorated with four gold cartouches containing various architectural views of Schloss Heidecksburg, Ludwigsburg of Rudolstadt, Stadtilm, Schwarzburg, and, most probably, Frankenhausen and Rathsfeld.The underside shows an artist’s easel bearing a drawing of a horse, accompanied by a palette, brushes, and another drawing in the form of an architectural ground plan. This depiction could refer to the art school in Ludwigsburg founded in 1767 by Ludwig Günther II. The inside of the lid bears a portrait of Ludwig Günther II von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1708–1790), cf. portrait of the latter by Johann Ernst Heinsius (1731–1794) in the Thüringer Landesmuseum, Heidecksburg).