Micromosaic is a technique in which tiny coloured glass 'tessarae' are placed with tweezers on a surface coated with a slow drying adhesive. The variety of colours available allowed artists to reproduce the tonal range of oil paintings with an extraordinary degree of detail. It was a speciality of Italian workshops, especially in Rome and Florence, used to produce small items for tourists. This box was made in Paris, with the mosaic made in Rome.

Foxes and other predators were often depicted on micromosaics. Many of these images are based on the work of Wenceslaus Peter, a Bohemian artist active in Rome from 1774 until his death in 1829.

Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world’s great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.