Rabbit – mosaic

The representation of a rabbit eating leaves was made using the micromosaic (mosaici in piccolo, mosaico minuto) technique. It was a method of creating pictures based on the arrangement of small hard elements in various colours according to the planned composition. Their proper selection and assembly made it possible to reproduce the intended topic in a very suggestive spatial manner. As the name suggests, micromosaics differed from the original technique – mosaic – in respect of a reduced scale of elements from which the picture was built. These were small, usually four-sided pieces of non-transparent glass (smalti filati) with a plastic structure arranged on a consolidating mass – putty. This technique was elaborated in Rome in the last quarter of the 18th century; at the turn of the century, it became one of the most popular types of artistic objects purchased by Europeans from outside the Alps arriving in Italy while on their Grand Tour.

The representation of a black and white rabbit preserved in the Wilanów collection is another object in the group of works of art representing this unusual technique. It is, however, the only representation with an animalistic theme; others focus on objects referring to ancient culture (cf. notes to objects Wil.2748 and Wil.2749 presenting two temples: the Temple of Minerva Medica in Rome and the Temple of the Sybil in Tivoli).

An overview of auction catalogues shows that the representation of a rabbit in mosaici in minuto technique is not a rare thing. Moreover, most objects are based on the same prototype as the Wilanów piece: the black and white animal with upright ears eating leaves looks at us. This scene occurs both in the form of separate plaques as an independent artistic object and as the decoration of a functional whole, e.g., as a plaque of micromosaic mounted into the cover of the snuffbox (see, e.g., http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2015/collections-silver-vertu-russian-art-n09409/lot.211.html).