Ivory box with engraving of Napoleon on St. Helena

This small circular box, formed from ivory, is remarkable because of the detailed engraving that adorns the top of the lid. The image on the lid, exceptionally finely engraved and subtly hand coloured, portrays Napoleon Bonaparte on St Helena—the inscription below, ‘Napoleon upon St Helena, making this clear. The composition seems to be after a popular 19^th Century original, most probably a print by Johann Lorenz Rugendas II—see, for instance, British Museum 1925,0615.195. The engraving portrays Napoleon among several other people on the island of St Helena, where he was exiled from 1815 until his death in 1821.