Fine 18th Century French Vernis Martin Portrait Miniature Painting Snuff Box, Silver Mounts

With very little loss and full paintings on both top and bottom, and around the perimeter of the oval snuff box, or patch box - this one is just gorgeous. An 18th century box hand painted in the layered technique "Vernis Martin", named for the jBrothers Martin who developed the method of layering pigments and varnish to achieve a painting with depth and elegance. Vernis Martin objects are high sought after, as it was the favorite decorative style of the ill-fated French Queen, Marie-Antoinette, queen to King Louis XVI, last half of 1700s. A Romantic Era subject, Psyche, with her butterfly wings, offers the sacrifice of a lamb to Cupid, on behalf of the young man. A pair of doves speak to the love, and an unbroken jug tells us there is virtue (virginity) involved. Interesting inclusion, though, of a knife - often seen as an aggression. The scene is, essentially, a prayer for or longing for a true love. The box, itself, is a silver box upon which all the paintings have been done. It appe