Giacomo Raffaelli
Italian (Rome)

This roundel decorates the lid of a snuffbox and was created by Giacomo Raffaelli (Italian, 1743-1836), who is credited with the invention of micromosaics. Tiny pieces of glass called tesserae are cut from thin, blown glass rods and painstakingly assembled into a picture set into a resin-like layer adhered to a copper base. This mosaic is made up of thousands of tesserae!

The monkey holding a cherry derives from a Sufi tale from Persia (modern Iran). A monkey sees a cherry inside a clear glass bottle and inserts its paw to grasp it, but cannot pull its fisted paw back out of the bottle. The hunter who set this trap easily captures the greedy monkey who will not abandon the fruit in its fist. The subject is a subtle reminder to use the tempting content of the snuffbox (tobacco) in moderation.

Polychrome opaque glass, cut, assembled, signed and dated 1794
Mr. and Mrs. George M. Jones, Jr. Fund, 2004.67