Snuff Box (Tabatière)

This box’s black and white design imitates a rare type of agate patterned with black veins that look like the branches of a tree or aquatic plant. Enamel that simulated agate was popular around 1775–80, evoking an 18th-century French interest in natural curiosities, mineralogy, and botany. Charles Le Bastier himself made at least seven boxes using this motif between 1775 and 1779.