A rare penwork snuff box of exceptional quality.
Firstly the  snuff box has an image on the lid of John the Baptist, the latin wording S. Joannes Baptis, shown bare chested in tough clothing, long hair and beard. There is an inscription on his cross staff in latin.
On one of the sides of the box it says Jean Mathieu Nisen De ster de Francorchamp 1818, refering to the owners name and village where he came from.
On the back is a really interesting illustration of men surveying the land  with their instruments. Futher illustrations of  the countryside and hunting are on the other sides. The quality is very very good, everywhere you look you see another detail.
 
It almost definitely belonged to Jean - Mathieu Nisen who was born in 1819-1885.
and was given in advance of his birth, in Ster, a village within Francorchamps (now part of Stavelot), in what was then the Kingdom of the Netherlands That village appears on his death certificate and biographical entries .A Rue Mathieu Nisen still exists in Ster/Francorchamps, named in his honor .
.He became a well‑known Belgian painter, specializing in portraits, genre scenes, and religious works, and studied at the prestigious art academies in Liège and Antwerp, later traveling to Rome .From 1868 to 1885, he taught drawing at the Liège Academy of Fine Arts, producing numerous portraits and religious commissions .He died in Liège in 1885, solidifying his lifelong ties to the region .
Although the year is 1818, most likely a personal or gift date near his birth (perhaps later corrected), the details align almost perfectly.🧭 SummaryYour box almost certainly once belonged to Jean‑Mathieu Nisen, the Belgian artist from Ster.1818 on the box likely refers to his birth year or a special family commemoration.The presence of both religious imagery (St. John the Baptist) and personal inscription fits well with gifts made to or by an educated, artistically inclined individual of that era and region.Would you like help exploring his known works or tracking how this box might have passed through collections?