The verre églomisé panels inset on this box are further evidence of the fashionable use of the technique at this date. In widening their decorative references the artists working in verre églomisé transformed what had been previously a simple technique used by picture framers as a border mount for watercolours. The subject matter of the lid panel, a still life with flowers, reflects another trend that emerged in the mid 1780s, when Adrien Jean Maximilien Vachette began to mount still-life miniatures by the Dutch born flower painter Gérard van Spaendonck (1746–1822) in simple tortoiseshell boxes with pearl-set borders. Snuffboxes set with still-life miniatures remained fashionable well into the Empire period. The influence of Vachette’s design, with a straight side and a simple border, is evident in this box, the pearls however being replaced with gold beading. The tortoiseshell side has been polished to match the reflectiveness of the glass. Although born of necessity – it was not then possible to form a glass hoop for the side element – such a visual conceit is a recurring feature of the period.

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