BY HENRI DELOBEL (FL. 1748-1785), MARKED WITH HIS POST-1756 MAKER'S MARK, PARIS, 1761/1762, WITH THE CHARGE MARK OF ELOY BRICHARD 1756-1762 AND THE DECHARGE MARK OF JEAN-JACQUES PREVOST 1762-1768

The scenes on the box are taken from François Boucher, Le Concert chinois. A box by Noel Hardivilliers dated 1753/1754 depicting the same cover scene is in the Louvre, S. Grandjean, Les tabatières du Musée du Louvre, Paris, 1981, p. 114, no. 125. Another box by Henri Delobel, dated 1761/1762 with very similar decoration, is in the Musée Cognacq-Jay, Paris, see C. Grégoire, Boîtes en or et Objets de Vertu, Paris, pp.124-125, no. 37. Henri Delobel worked as a journeyman at the hospice of La Trinité from 1748 and became a master eight years later. Between 1756 and 1771, he stood sponsor for five goldsmiths, including two members of his own family.