This snuff-box glorifying the Russian naval victory over the Turks in Chesme Bay on 24-26 June 1770 was produced by one of St Petersburg's most celebrated jewellers - Jean Pierre Ador - in 1771. All the elements of the decorative insets: laurel garlands, Hercules with a club, Minerva by an obelisk inscribed Patrie, an altar inscribed Monument eternel are testimony to the commemorative nature of the piece. The main miniature, framed by a garland of diamonds, is placed on the lid. Neptune holding his trident leads the fleet; Minerva holding a spear rests on a shield bearing the monogram of the Russian commander Alexei Orlov whose armoured figure is placed below.
The snuff-box was given to Count Alexei Orlov of Chesme by Catherine II. His daughter bequeathed the snuff-box to the Yuriev Monastery in Novgorod which sold it to the Hermitage. In 1854 Empress Alexandra Fiodorovna presented the box to the Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz who bequeathed it back to the Hermitage. It has been kept in the Gallery of Jewellery since 1876.