Tesouros de Bolso 07-11-2026

Tesouros de Bolso

Intimacy and Display: The Creation of Small Luxury Objects in 18th-Century Paris

Talk by André Afonso, Curator of the Goldsmithing Collection at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum

DATE: 07-11-2026

The snuffbox of King José I, one of the most emblematic objects in the Royal Treasure Museum, will serve as the starting point for a journey into the world of the creation and consumption of small luxury objects that shaped 18th-century Europe. From goldsmiths and artistic manufactories to marchands-merciers, and from snuffboxes to nécessaires, we will explore the creation and circulation of these precious objects, highlighting masters such as Jean Ducrollay and the designs produced in his workshop, now preserved predominantly at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The lecture will explore the trends and techniques that defined the period, from coloured gold to painted enamel, often inspired by compositions by François Boucher, as well as refined guilloché, a technique that would once again gain great popularity among leading luxury-object makers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including Fabergé and Cartier.

Bringing together objects from the Royal Treasure Museum, the Gulbenkian Collection and other internationally renowned collections, this journey will reveal how these objects combined luxury, utility, fashion, status and diplomacy, reflecting the evolution of taste and the social codes of Europe’s elites during the Age of Enlightenment.

Language: Portuguese

Type of Event: Talk

Target Audience: General Public

Organised by: Museu Tesouro Real

Duration: In-person visit: 2 hour

Minimum number of participants: 10 people
Maximum capacity: 60 people

NOTE: If the minimum number of participants is not reached, the Royal Treasury Museum reserves the right to cancel the event and refund any participants who have already purchased a ticket

Cancellation: Subject to prior approval from the Education Department – please email servicoeducativo@tesouroreal.com

1. Visitors must pass through a metal detector arch and their small bags will be screened using an X-ray machine.
2. Larger bags must be left in the lockers, which will be available at the entrance, next to the shop.
3. Please arrive 15 minutes early.