The 18th-century gold snuffbox was the ultimate fashion accessory – beautifully made, exquisitely decorated and very expensive, its form and ornament subject to the changing taste of the time. Playing an important role in self-promotion, diplomacy and collecting, a box denoted status and could be used as currency for its monetary value. Its practical purpose was usually secondary.

The collection of gold boxes at the Wallace Collection is small in number, but contains some of the finest in any museum and can boast of some of the most famous boxes in the world. The 99 pieces catalogued here represent a brilliant cross-section of the products of the European goldsmith between c. 1730 and 1830.

This beautiful publication considerably advances our knowledge and appreciation of the Wallace Collection’s gold boxes and establishes their place in the scholarship of 18th-century decorative arts.