While the side faces of this snuffbox are decorated with floral twigs, the lid and the base feature compositions illustrating Jean de La Fontaine's fable "The Fox and the Stork". On the lid and the base, there is a 20K mark, indicating that the snuffbox is made of 20-karat gold. This is a higher fineness than the 18 or 19 carats typically used in Hanau. Members of the Society of New Hanau Jewelers (Gesellschaft der Neu-Hanauer Bijoutiers) designated these two finenesses respectively with marks in the form of a shell and a bird's head, which were placed on the rim of the item. The use of higher-karat gold can perhaps be explained by the fact that the snuffbox was made to a special order. The unusual choice of subjects for the lid and the base may also testify in favor of this assumption.

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