This charming French diorama dates to the 1870s-'80s and has fantastic levels of detail with birds in the sky, tiles on the roofs and even moustaches on the soldiers! It is competently made, but still endearingly amateur. 

 

The castle/army scene is cased in a basic wooden box with the outside edges clad in paper, painted in a basic grey speckled pattern and fronted with a pane of lovely, wobbly old glass. 

 

The diorama measures 41cm wide x 34cm high x 7.5cm deep.