Antique c.1750s French Vernis Martin and 18k Billet Doux, Sweet Notes, Love Letter Etui, Painting Staffordshire The glass or tumbler (timbale

The glass or tumbler (timbale in French)

There is also text on the back of the chromalith and we have enlarged pictures of it (front and back)

notation on backside also indicate artist

so it was not originally a sugar casket as I initially posited

This one even has what appears to be the original skeleton key

Antique c.1750s French Vernis Martin and 18k Billet Doux, Sweet Notes, Love Letter Etui, Painting Staffordshire The glass or tumbler (timbaleI just love these old things. The history is as fun as the object. These are rare! What some think might be a cigar case is, instead, a 1700s "billet doux", or directly translated, "sweet note". The case is that into which love notes, invitations to clandestine trysts and such words of love would be sent by courier to one's beloved. Marriage being what it was among elites and titled persons in Marie Antoinette's era and earlier, one did not always