This box forms part of the group of snuffboxes associated with Frederick the Great of Prussia, who was a cultivated admirer of the arts. He maintained a lengthy, although sometimes heated, correspondence with the French philosopher Voltaire and was a gifted musician, composer and linguist. He had a passion for gold boxes, some of which he may have designed himself. He carried a box at all times; one is even said to have saved his life by deflecting a bullet during the battle of Kunersdorf in 1759.

Frederick’s obsession came from his mother, Sophia Dorothea of Hanover (1687-1757) upon whose death owned 372 gold boxes (according to an inventory from this time). Beyond his personal interest, Frederick saw a mercantilist opportunity in the production of snuffboxes. He made large commissions, limited the import of foreign goods and sought out new mines to bolster the wealth of the territories under his rule.

Although the goldsmith who made the box is unknown, it is modelled on a design by Jean Guillaume George Krüger. Krüger was a London-born artist who was summoned to Berlin in 1753. Twenty designs for snuffboxes survive, all apparently made before the period around 1774 which he spent working in Paris.

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 managed to acquire 6 examples of Frederick’s boxes, the largest group in private hands today, except for the ones inherited by Frederick’s descendants. This box was Arthur’s latest acquisition in the group and his pride as he claimed that it had ‘the best provenance possible’. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.