ART GALLERYMusée Collection des Arts
The Musée Collection des Arts is one of the largest private collections in Europe with over 25 thousand unique art items. It belongs to the patron of arts and philanthropist David Iakobachvili and his son Mikhail.
This unique collection brings together the best samples of decorative and applied art, jewellery and fine art. Over two decades of collecting, the Museum founders have managed to collect remarkable works by internationally renowned and top-ranked artisans and artists, which are significant artefacts of the past. The time span of the collection extends from the second half of the 16th century to the present day.
The collection is divided to the following sections: art jewellery that features rare antique snuffboxes, clocks and various accessories; large-scale collections of French Art Nouveau glass and Art Deco sculpture, art silver and lapidary art.
The entire spectrum of the collectors' interest comprises the history of musical mechanics and sound recording. These sections of the collection feature multifarious self-playing mechanical items: organs, orchestrions, music boxes and automata. The gem of the collection is the Sound Library that enlaces more than 20 thousand musical records of the past, giving a complete picture of sound recording evolution.
gold, enamel, pearls, glass
maker's mark in a horizontal lozenge, the movement unsigned but the barrel signed: fait par Puyroche à Genève
Collection Musée Collection des Arts
EXHIBITIONEpisode 1: Golden Snuffboxes
For the first time, the viewer will be presented with a unique opportunity to get acquainted with magnificent examples of jewelry art from collection of David and Mikhail Iakobachvili.
Snuffbox was one of the landmark accessories in the past. Snuffboxes were very popular in Europe for more than two centuries, from the end of the 17th until the end of the 19th century. The courteous 18th century, referred sometimes as "A century of snuffboxes", turned out to be the golden age for snuffboxes. It was the time when a snuffbox turned out to be a must- have ceremonial item. In those days, a snuffbox became not just a container for the snuff tobacco storage – it was an extremely fashionable and demanded dainty item, a symbol of a certain social status.
Demand for snuffboxes was huge. The best goldsmiths were snowed under the orders. Nothing limited the imagination of jewelers.
European masters created miniature boxes and snuffboxes that witnessed stormy upheavals, wars, changing of eras, generations and styles. Nevertheless, even today in the age of new technologies and innovative materials, those items continue to delight us by their grace, refinement of shape, decoration and artisanship.
