Stenciling using metallic powders became one of the most popular and widespread methods of decorating furniture after about 1815. It developed as a less-expensive alternative to gold ormolu mounts and gilding and was favored as a flexible means of decorating even difficult areas on furniture. The effects could be as complex or as simple as desired, depending on the number of stencils used and the variety of metallic colors. Ornamentation on boxes often reflects overall trends in the decorative arts, and this box features the rosewood graining that became the preferred ground color on furniture of the Empire period. The rich dark red and black graining became a perfect foil for elaborate stenciled and freehand-painted elements in metallic powders, including several shades of bronze, gold, silver, zinc, and brass.

This box includes typical stenciled motifs of rosettes, medallions, and corner elements. Unusual is the line of soldiers being inspected by a mounted officer in the background and an Indian on either side of the foreground, each flanked by a tropical tree and a raising bow and arrow. The figures were executed with the aid of stencils, while the trees and the atmospheric streaks in the sky and ground were painted freehand. The overall scheme relates generally to the narrative French wallpapers of the early nineteenth century that also may have inspired some aspects of the painted Scenic Wall (1800-1825). The image of an Indian with bow and arrow also strongly recalls a wallpaper by Joseph Dufour, titled Paysage Indian (c. 1806), that highlighted a similar figure. 

Stacy C. Hollander, "Box," in American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 312–313.