Such spice boxes from the early Eighteenth Century were usually made in Paris or London by Huguenot goldsmiths, however, this one, quite unusually, comes from Rome perhaps for a visiting English or French patron. Spice boxes like this one were often sold in pairs or sets, so it's quite possible that this Italian specimen from the Victoria & Albert Museum could have been made as a copy to complete an existing set.
This box takes a complicated octagonal form mounted on four scroll feet. . Panels depicting classical busts, strapwork, and scrolling foliage on a matted ground adorn the covers which are hinged from the sides. Another unusual feature of this example is that the interior of the box is divided into three gilded compartments--each with an additional cylindrical compartment at the center.
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