France

This surprisingly sized and decorated small box is intriguing in a number of ways. Both sides feature secret keyholes and hinges, the better to deceive the enemy; it is decorated with carved patterns, different on the sides from on the lid: those on the sides are more vigorous and intricate; those on the lid are flatter and more conventional, depicting lions and eagles – common heraldic animals. It is therefore the work of two craftsmen, which dates it back to the second half of the seventeenth century.