I've always been partial to the snuff boxes inlaid with pique work in gold. Imagine the work a goldsmith has put into this - incising and crafting and then making a flat inlay of the cut forms to decorate something this small and precious. While it might be the case that this one is inlaid with 18k gold, I am unwilling to pry a piece loose or to gouge it to do acid test. Likewise, the facing on the mount around the portrait is also likely to test 18k (more from my decades of experience in these) but the painting mount is firm and I wasn't able to easily pry it in order to test, nor to have photos of the beautiful young girl's painting without the glares and slight distortion of her original convex cover glass. Shot from various angles, you can see the glare light moves as the box does - it's just reflection of our photo lighting. A nice-sized table snuff at 3 1/8" x 1 1/4", it's almost more like a piece of fine jewelry. I am slightly perplexed by the metal band surrounding outer edge of the lid, as it seems clearly to be a gold plating on other metal, unlike the rest of the gold work. Slight rippling and also a soldered joint also would indicate that band is a replacement. Looks nice with the box, but not quite of the same quality, and not 18k gold. Full measurements noted on the photos. Beautiful young girl, perhaps 13, just moving through puberty, she has a small tiara and all the fashions of her time, c.1800-1815, Napoleonic France.
Very good to excellent condition, as noted above. Photos show the delicacy of the pique and inlay work, and also that a little of it has lifted and lost over the centuries. A French Empire Urn worked into the bottom of the box has a slight loss, as well, but in origin it would have been an unbroken 2-handled pitcher or jug, signifying her purity and virtue. Perhaps a celebration souvenir of her leaving childhood years behind. The box is shell, and has no breaks, no bug bites and even the slender inner lip is complete. The portrait rests into a recess, and the inner box is beautifully finished, as well.
