A pair of powder boxes

Paris, circa 1720

Louis XV Periode

red lacquer on turned wood, with decoration in engraved gold leaf

Two boxes of this type and a square wig box (boîte a perruques), together with a mirror would make up a necessaire de toilette.

The two boxes show chinoise scenes in exotic landscapes of a smoking lady in conversation with a servant and a buddhist(?) scene of presenting incense

to a human figure surrounded by a snake mandorla.