Directoire-period miniatures from the late 18th century, attributed to Piat-Joseph Sauvage, presented on the velvet lining of a bakelite box.
Piat-Joseph Sauvage (Tournai, 1744 – Tournai, 1818) was a renowned Belgian painter celebrated for his trompe-l’œil works. He studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. He later worked at the Court of the Austrian Netherlands in Brussels, as well as for the Duke of Condé and his cousin, King Louis XVI. Sauvage notably painted several medallions of the French royal family and executed the ceiling of the chapel at the Château de Saint-Cloud. After the French Revolution, he worked for the Sèvres porcelain manufactory and for Emperor Napoleon I.