Engraved rectangular tortoiseshell antique music box

The box is rectangular in shape. The cover is engraved to depict an overview of the Place de la Concorde in Paris. There is an inscription on the inside cover, which reads ‘Donne par la duchesse de Dantzick au petit neveu de Kleber pour lui rappeler la gloire de son Oncle au pays des Obelisques, 1837’ (Given by the Duchess of Gdansk to the great nephew of Kleber to remind him of the glory of his Uncle in the country of Obelisks, 1837).

The 'country of obelisks' being referred to here is Egypt, the country where Jean-Baptiste Kleber ('Kleber' in the inscription) distinguished himself as a revolutionary military commander. Jean-Baptiste Kleber was a French revolutionary general known for his actions in French victories at the battles of Fleurus (1794) and Neuwied (1797), and particularly for being a lieutenant of Napoleon Bonaparte's during the Egyptian campaign in 1798. He was made governor of Alexandria in 1799 before his assassination by a Kurdish Syrian student while living in Egypt. The obelisk depicted in the engraving is the Luxor Obelisk, a gift from the Egyptian government to the French, installed in the Place de la Concorde in 1836, one year before this box was made.