BY JEAN-JOSEPH BARRIÈRE (FL. 1763-1793), MARKED, PARIS, 1768/1769, WITH THE CHARGE AND DECHARGE MARKS OF JULIEN ALATERRE 1768-1774, THE FLANGE STAMPED WITH WORKSHOP NUMBER 630

Jean-Joseph Barrière became master in 1763, sponsored by Henri Delobel. He worked on the pont-Notre-Dame until 1786 when his shop and dwelling were pulled down during the reconstruction of the bridge; then moving to the rue Coq Saint-Honoré where he is recorded until the Terror in 1793.
Barrière was one of the more productive Parisian goldsmiths whose boxes often feature delicate enamel work inspired by the work of the Rococo master François Boucher (1703-1770) with playful scenes of cherubs and muses. The panels on this box are close to those featured on another snuff-box by Barrière dated 1769/70 in the Metropolitan Museum in New York gifted by J. Pierpont Morgan in 1917 (Accession Number: 17.190.1211).