The subject is inspired by Le Colin-Maillard (Blind Man’s Buff), a circa 1755 painting by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, engraved by Jacques-Firmin Beauvarlet and others. In Fragonard’s playfully erotic depiction of Blind Man’s Buff, the game becomes a metaphor for love’s blindness, courtship, and chance. Set in a lush garden, the elegantly dressed lovers engage in teasing gestures, with the blindfolded woman slyly stealing a glance—revealing that she is not as helpless as she seems.

The Geneva maker’s mark, a crowned M, remains unidentified. While rarely recorded, it occasionally appears on high-quality gold and enamel snuff boxes and automata. This mark is also found on a three-compartment automaton box (Sotheby’s Geneva, 13 November 1986, lot 298, illustrated in Le Monde des Automates, Alfred Chapuis & Edouard Gélis, Paris, 1928, vol. II, pp. 53-54), as well as on a singing bird box with a movement signed Jt Droz & Léschot à Genève (Sotheby’s Paris, 15 April 2010, lot 61).

The automaton is likely the work of Piguet & Capt. Isaac Daniel Piguet (1775–1841) and Henri Capt (1773–1837?) were partners from 1802 to 1811 under the firm name Piguet & Capt. Renowned for their exceptional craftsmanship, they are considered among the most significant creators of small automata at the turn of the 19th century. Their masterpieces are featured in some of the world’s most prestigious collections, including the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva.

From the 17th century onward, Geneva became one of the foremost centers for enamel painting, renowned for its technical mastery and artistic refinement. The city's prominence in this craft was driven by an influx of French Huguenot refugees, who brought their expertise and contributed to Geneva’s flourishing decorative arts and watchmaking industries. Geneva’s enamellers quickly gained a reputation for their exquisite miniature paintings on watchcases, snuffboxes, and other luxury objects, catering to an elite international clientele.

By the 18th century, Geneva’s enamel painters had perfected their techniques, achieving extraordinary precision and depth. Their work involved multiple layers of colored enamel, each separately fired to enhance luminosity and realism, often rivaling the richness of oil paintings. This meticulous process required both artistic skill and technical expertise, leading to the emergence of celebrated Geneva enamellers such as Jean-Louis Richter (1766–1841), who became famous for his refined landscape and maritime scenes, and Jean-Abraham Lissignol (1749–1819), known for his delicate portraits and classical compositions. Other masters, such as Jean-Marc Roux and Louis-André Brun, also contributed to Geneva’s renown in enamel painting, producing works of exceptional detail and beauty. The city's artisans took inspiration from European masters, meticulously replicating works by painters such as Boucher, Watteau, and Fragonard—prompting questions about the circulation and transmission of these renowned artworks.

In the early 19th century, Geneva miniature enamel painting reached its peak, a level of artistry that has never been surpassed. One exceptional example of this is the enamel scene of Blind Man's Bluff with its nuanced, diverse and intensely luminous shades, as well as the so-called ‘Fondant de Genève’. The enamel decoration on this snuff box is uses the Geneva technique and under flux. The enamel powder has been very finely ground, allowing for remarkable finesse in the miniature details. Noteworthy is the Cassius purple-red enamel, which is created using gold oxide—a particularly difficult color to achieve. Additionally, part of the box features a guilloché engraving, adorned with a stunning translucent blue enamel.

During the late 17th and 18th centuries, artistic exchanges flourished across Europe, shaping a shared visual culture that transcended national borders. Paris and Rome remained at the heart of this circulation, influencing emerging artistic hubs such as Vienna, Munich, Dresden, Potsdam, Saint Petersburg, and Stockholm. The movement of artists, facilitated by princely patronage and the growing market for art, was further propelled by the dissemination of engravings and printed collections.

The 18th century marked a golden age for French printmaking, with engravings playing a pivotal role in the transmission of artistic styles and motifs. François Boucher, a key figure of the Rococo movement, collaborated with print dealers like Jean-François Cars and collector Jean de Julienne to reproduce artworks (cf. Figures de différents caractères, 1722), while Gilles Demarteau pioneered the crayon manner technique, making prints resemble original drawings with unprecedented precision. Print dealer Pierre-François Basan further expanded access to engravings through his extensive collection and the Dictionnaire des graveurs anciens et modernes (1767), a reference for contemporary artists and collectors.

Publications such as Recueil d’estampes d’après les plus beaux tableaux et d’après les plus beaux desseins qui sont en France dans le Cabinet du Roy, dans celui de Monseigneur le Duc d’Orléans, & dans d’autres Cabinets (Pierre-Jean Mariette, 1729) served as a major vehicle for artistic diffusion. These compilations allowed masterworks from prestigious French collections to be widely accessible, influencing artisans across Europe. Engraved reproductions ensured that stylistic innovations traveled swiftly, reaching workshops in Switzerland that specialized in miniature decorative arts, including horology and enamel painting.

In this context, the Blind Man’s Bluff snuffbox is not only a marvel of craftsmanship but also a testament to the efficiency of artistic circulation in the pre-modern era. The scene, originally painted by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, was adapted into an exquisite miniature enamel, proving how rapidly and effectively designs could move from grand oil paintings in Parisian collections to delicate objets d’art destined for the Chinese market. Such adaptations exemplify the role of engravings in spreading artistic themes beyond paintings, allowing them to be transformed into intricate enamel work on luxurious items like snuffboxes. This phenomenon underscores the fluidity between fine art and decorative objects, blurring the lines between painting, engraving, watchmaking, and enameling—an interconnected artistic ecosystem that defined the 18th century.