Guiseppe Tresca born in Palermo into a family of artists is known to have worked as a miniaturist, a portrait painter and and an engraver active in Paris in the 1780s. Christie's sold in November 2012, lot 305, a miniature set on a tortoiseshell bonbonnière of King Louis XVI also signed 'Tresca f.'.

The cover and base although marked by two different goldsmiths are decorated identically and a perfect match. It seems therefore likely that the lining of the cover was lost and an old one re-used especially as the overall style is more in keeping with the period of the 1780s rather than the late 1760s; this in itself is not unusual as several examples of these occurs in museum collections.