Alexander Leferre (before 1806 to 1838) was one of the best known members of an established family of Parisian goldsmiths. Much of his production was portrait boxes in an earlier style, but he also did ones mounted "a cage" in 18th century style, such as this marquetry box and another similar one decorated with birds and flowers was sold in Property from the Collections of Lily & Edmond J. Safra, Sotheby's, New York, 20 November 2011, lot 840.

Boxes decorated with intricate marquetry panels in the chinoiserie style became popular in the middle of the 18th century, introducing European ideas of Far Eastern landscapes and scenes. There was a revival of popularity for chinoiserie in Europe from the mid-19th century when this snuff-box was produced. For a comparable German marquetry fruitwood snuff-box circa 1765, see Sotheby’s, London, 10 December 2020, lot 11.