In the mid-1750s enamellers began to include as an element in the decoration of snuffboxes small vignettes painted in opaque colours to resemble moss agate. In 1774–1775 Charles Le Bastier expanded this decorative motif to cover most of the box, enlarging the organic element so that it more resembled a shrub, and painting it on translucent-enamelled engine-turned ground. The following year the “arborisé” motif became the focal point of the decoration, as may be observed on a box in the Musée du Louvre, Paris, dated 1776–1777, and on the present snuffbox made the year after.

The rims of both these boxes are engraved with inscriptions indicating they came from Charles Raymond Granchez’s fêted emporium, Au Petit Dunkerque. Located at 3 quai de Conti, the shop was opened in 1767, the same year Granchez became a member of the Parisian marchands-merciers. Prior to this Granchez had a business trading in bijouterie and quincaillerie anglaise in Dunkirk, which may explain the name given to the shop in Paris, and why a view of the port appeared on its trade card. Success soon followed: in 1774 he was appointed bijoutier du Roi, and the year after bijoutier de la Reine. The shop’s reputation as a purveyor to the royal family and court no doubt enhanced its reputation and made it a fashionable destination. On 27 October 1775, when visiting Paris with Dr Johnson, Hester Thrale recorded, “We went nowhere today but to the Great Toy Shop called the Petit Dunkerque; I bought A Trinket or two, & longed for a Snuffbox of exquisite beauty.” Despite the clamour of purchasers, as described by the Baronne d’Oberkirch, Granchez was forced to declare himself insolvent in 1787. It is not known when he left the premises on the quai de Conti, but it seems he moved subsequently to 91 rue de Richelieu, remaining there until at least 1813.

Louis Sebastien Mercier in Tableau de Paris, published in Amsterdam in 1782, recorded how Granchez launched a novelty snuffbox every New Year, each one given “un nom particular et bizarre”. Evidently Granchez had a keen eye for what might have fashionable appeal and “arborisé” decoration was identified as one such motif of delight. Perhaps in order to meet expected demand, Granchez did not rely upon a single goldsmith to supply these snuffboxes. Thus the two following examples of “arborisé” decorated snuffboxes, engraved with the emporium’s name, were made by Charles Alexandre Bouillerot and not Le Bastier. This is an example of the influential role a marchand-mercier could play in the creation and dissemination of a style. Another of Le Bastier’s decorative innovations, “émail tigré”, which was similarly adopted by other goldsmiths including Joseph Etienne Blerzy, was also promoted by Granchez.

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