BACK TO LIST
Director's Choice - Charles Le Bastier
This latest Director’s Choice focuses on one of the greatest 18th century goldsmiths of Paris, Charles Le Bastier (fl. 1754-1783). He was certainly one of the most important goldsmiths during the reign of Louis XV and Louis XVI and active at the most creative period for gold boxes. A prolific maker, Le Bastier left an extensive body of work which makes it possible to recognise his personal style, which is described by Clare le Corbeiller in European and American Snuff Boxes 1730-1830, London, 1966, p. 29 as 'characterised by classical restraint, a spare use of ornament, and the frequent use of subtle - sometimes contrasting - enamel colours'.
