A rare Louis XVI gilt impressed tortoiseshell and polychrome decorated medallion by Compigné

A rare Louis XVI gilt impressed tortoiseshell and polychrome decorated medallion by Compigné, depicting a view of Marseilles harbour, inscribed 'Premiere Vue de Marseille executée sur le tour par Compignie Tourneur du Roi a Paris d'apres le Tableau Original de M. Vernet de sa Majeste', 7.8cm diameter, in an ebonised moulded frame.

Thomas Compigné was a peintre and tabletier who worked under the patronage of Louis XV. He was based in the Rue Grenetta at the 'Roi David'. His speciality were exquisite pictures of country houses, townscapes and landscapes. Executed in gouache, silver and gold on a pewter or tortoiseshell ground they were much admired and sought after by the French cognoscenti.