Pierre-André Montauban was born in Paris on 22 September 1763 but is not recorded as working there until 1800 when he entered a post-revolutionary mark as bijoutier; garnisseur from 30 quai des Orfèvres. As garnisseur, he specialised in mounting miniatures or other types of panel in gold or mor�༒�e often, gold-lined tortoiseshell boxes.

In common with the few remaining gold box makers at this date, he appears to have worked both on his own account and as a supplier of boxes to retailers such as Gibert, par🍷ticularly to produce presentation boxes first for the Imperial and then after the Restoration, the Royal families. No boxes with Montauban's maker's mark are to be found with post-1819 Paris marks so it is to be presumed that he either died or retired before then.