Snuff box or toothpick case

Boxes decorated with enamels of French dignitaries of the Ancien Régime were popular in England following the defeat of Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo. The three portrait miniatures in enamel on the lid depict on the right Louis XIV by Henri Toutin, c. 1667-8, in the centre his mistress, the duchesse Louise de la Vallière (1644-1710), after Jean Petitot (1607-91), probably French 19th century, and on the left Cardinal de Bouillon by a 17th-century follower of Petitot. Whilst the elongated rectangular shape of this box might suggest that it was intended for toothpicks, its form was probably dictated by the necessity of incorporating all three miniatures. By the time the box was made, the habit of taking snuff was in decline.