The similarity between the trelliswork panels on this box and the preceding one (inventory number 4023MC257/ДПИ) would suggest they were made in the same workshop. The apertures, however, are treated differently: here each shaped lozenge is inset with a nacreous sliver fixed in lacquer. When turned, the fall of light causes the natural iridescence of the shells to shimmer and change colour like a peacock’s tail.

Parallels may be detected between the motif of clusters of flowers, executed in chased coloured golds on this snuffbox, and the painted decoration of contemporary porcelain, such as the Breslauer Stadtschloss service made by the Königliche Porzellanmanufaktur, 1767–1768.

The relatively simple cagework mounts, comprising gently undulating reeded banding punctuated with small leafy divisions, may be an indication that this box was made a few years after the previous example, on which the mounts are chased with lively rocaille scrolls scattered with flowers. The treatment of the junction of the rims shows a similar shift towards restraint: the first undulating with the crests touching and so leaving a space between the lows that echoes the apertures of the trelliswork, the second a clean-cut line. When opened, the inside rims are respectively wavy and straight

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