Gabriel-Raoul Morel
Gabriel-Raoul Morel was born in Paris in 1764 and registered his mark under the French Revolutionary government in 1797. He went on to become a celebrated goldsmith at the French royal court and – together with his son Alexander Raoul (1801-1886) – was a premier purveyor of gold boxes during the First and the Second Empire. Morel worked for jewellers such as Marguerite fils, Petit Jean, and Ouizille, and produced boxes for the courts of Louis XVIII and Charles X. He also worked for Gibert, a goldsmith at the Quai Voltaire, and Martial Bernard, jeweller to King Louis-Philippe. Gabriel-Raoul Morel’s creative work falls into three periods: 1798-1809, 1809-1819, and 1819-1838. The Louvre in Paris holds objects from all three – two snuff boxes, a chocolate box, and a dance card holder with pencil holder. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York also owns pieces by Morel, as do the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Museum in London.