The lid is inset with an enamel portrait miniature of Louis XIV as a young man, within a gold mount; the rim impressed with overlapping leaves.
School of Petitot, diameter 8.5cm.
A paper inside the box is inscribed: ‘Supposed to be Lewis XIV. Enamel miniature by Petitot. Given to me by Lord St. Helens between 1824 and 1830. To be placed in Jewel Closet glass case Burghley House – Isabella Exeter’.
Isabella Exeter was the wife of Brownlow, 2nd Marquess of Exeter (1795-1867).
The Swiss-born Jean Petitot (1607-1691) was the first great miniature portraitist in enamel.
He worked at the courts of France and England for most of his career.
