BY CHARLES LE BASTIER (FL. 1754-1783), MARKED, PARIS, 1775/1776, WITH THE CHARGE AND DECHARGE MARKS OF JEAN-BAPTISTE FOUACHE 1774-1780, THE INTERIOR STRUCK WITH INVENTORY NO. 326, LATER STRUCK WITH TWO FRENCH POST-1838 RESTRICTED WARRANTY MARKS FOR GOLD, THE FLANGE ENGRAVED WITH RETAILER'S NAME 'DU PETIT DUNKERQUE'

Charles Le Bastier was one of the principal goldsmiths of both the Louis XV and Louis XVI periods. He attained the maîtrise in 1754 and established his own shop on the rue Thévenot where he worked until his death in 1783. Two boxes by Le Bastier with similar decoration of brown winter branches are in the collection of the Louvre, illustrated in S. Grandjean, Les tabatieres du musée du Louvre, Paris, 1981, pp. 125-127, nos. 146 and 147. The Louvre has a total of thirteen gold boxes by this goldsmith.
Au Petit Dunkerque was one of the premier Paris retailers and served as bijoutier du roi. With marchand-mercier Charles-Reymond Grancher as its proprietor, Dunkerque commissioned gold boxes from leading gold box makers such as Le Bastier, Bouillerot and Blerzy. The gold boxes retailed by Dunkerque were always of the latest fashion and of the highest quality and were greatly sought after by the French nobility.