The use of coloured golds for the chased decoration is a characteristic feature of Hanau work of this period. It was also favoured in Geneva. In Paris, however, although not completely eschewed, single-colour gold was preferred. The arrangement of the flowers on the lid as a tied bouquet differs from the more ubiquitous cluster of blooms and foliage. The tazza/ urn motif on the base had been employed in Paris at the beginning of the nineteenth century. It is interesting to contrast the tazza panel on the base of this box, the coloured golds chased with frosted crispness, with the base of a box by Joseph Etienne Blerzy, where the single-colour gold is more softly chased, with richness achieved by variations of matt and burnished finish (inventory number 1104MC26/ДПИ )

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