The decoration of this oblong box, comprising vignettes chased in four-colour gold reserved against a finely reeded ground within a border of rocaille scrolls, may be compared with another oval example in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The latter box has marginally more legible marks: the initials of the maker’s mark are more discernible and may be read as LFT; the harrow mark imitating the charge mark of Eloy Brichard and Etienne Somfoye is quite distinct; and the ox-head mark imitating the charge mark of Julien Berthe can be seen in fragmented outline. Both these boxes are examples of the work of Les Frères Toussaint, made in Hanau just over a decade after they had moved to the city from Berlin. The chasing is reminiscent of Berlin work, a predictable reflection of the brothers’ training in the city of their birth. In terms of design they refer back to snuffboxes made in Paris at the end of the previous decade.

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