Snuff, or powdered tobacco, was widely popular throughout Europe from the 17th century. Small boxes to contain the powder were made in their thousands. This box is of a type that was produced in France by a semi-industrial process in the early 19th century. Boxes were turned out of burr maple or burr birch, and then steamed to soften them. They were then put into screw presses where finely-worked metal dies stamped scenes or motifs into both the lids and the bases.

The melodramatic scene on the lid of this box reproduces a painting by Nicolas-André Monsiau, which was shown at the Paris Salon in 1801. It was titled Trait sublime de la maternité au siècle dernier or 'A sublime deed of motherhood in the last century'. However, it was soon re-titled Le Lion de Florence, and it is this title that is included in the decoration on this box. The story depicted is of a lion's escape from the menagerie of the Grand Duke of Tuscany in Florence in the late 18th century. The lion carried off a small child, and its mother, heedless of her own safety, rushed at the lion to save her child. Unfortunately we do not know whether her brave act was successful. The painting now hangs in the Louvre in Paris.