The evidence of some fifteen oriental lacquer objects with gold mounts struck with the mark of Jean Ducrollay suggests that this exceptional master had a marked preference for the material. The earliest surviving examples date from 1749 1750. It is interesting to speculate about the influence of the celebrated marchand-mercier Lazare Duvaux (c.1703–1758) on Ducrollay in this context. On a number of occasions between 1750 and 1755 Duvaux sold unmounted lacquer to Ducrollay, such as the “boëte de lacq noir & feuillage en or travaillé partout”, for which the goldsmith paid 144 livres on 4 October 1752. That such purchases were then cut up by Ducrollay for his own purposes is proven by a snuffbox and a notebook, both struck with his maker’s mark and the warden’s mark for 1750–1752, where the decoration of paulownia branches of the original panel continues uninterrupted when the two works are placed next to each other. Duvaux also sold gold-mounted lacquer boxes, such as the “tabatière de lacq à deux tabacs, en or émaillé”, purchased by Madame de Pompadour in March 1753, or the “tabatière ovale d”ancien lacq, garnie d’or, montée en cage & double d’or’, acquired by monsieur Le Premier in November 1756. Thus Duvaux’s relationship with Ducrollay could have been both as a supplier and as a retailer.
The shape of this snuffbox is unusual for the period and was dictated presumably by the form of the original Japanese lacquer box. It is likely that the slightly jarring yellow gold of the umbrella/ parasol on the lid of the box and undergarment of the central figure on the base are restorations, either contemporary with the box or possibly of a later date. The snuffbox is contained in a fine case made by the firm of Charles (Carl or Karl) Giradet, renowned bookbinders and leatherworkers in Vienna in the nineteenth century.

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