Best of best, the only thing we don't know is her identity and that of her very capable artist. This young girl's likeness, captured so delicately here in a 9/16" face (chin to hairline) leaves us a mystery and a date: 1839. I'm used to researching these special ones - the ones like this with loads of 18k gold because the painting is usually that of a Royal or Noble, in this case a child of, and typically I'll run into a likeness. I have not yet spent that time on this little girl. I'd put her age at about 9-11. She wears a tiara pushed back to nearly the crown, and a dainty cross on laniard. Probably her mother's earrings for the portrait. This box!!! This box is heavy, for one thing. The overload of bands of gold, even though they're rather thin, make it notably heavier than others its size. Fine red tortoise shell was the rage in the era, Louis-Philippe I served as King of France, and Britain's Queen Victoria has just been crowned in 1837. She is not a child of King Louis-Philippe. His children were all adults by this time. Alas, I digress. The large table snuff is crafted of wood and veneered in very thin fine tortoise shell, inside and out. Full measurements noted on the photos.
Very good to excellent condition throughout, age and type considered. I am amazed that all the gold remains on this one. Usually one finds a band lost to the years, or more lost or long since melted down and sold off. The thin tortoise shell veneers, the better to show the red coloration, are complete and without chips. I can see a fine hairline on the veneer of the top of lid, flanking her portrait at about the 5 o'clock position. Otherwise, no flaw to report. Museum piece, this!
IMPORTANT NOTE regarding antique tortoise shell or ivory: We are great supporters of protection for endangered species in our modern world. We never buy or sell anything 100 years or newer; we donate to anti-poaching organizations; we don't hunt; we conserve in ways that impact global warming (we're totally solar at home), knowing those measures also protect the animals in the wild today. We also recognize the vast cultural history we preserve with our care and reverence for these antique objects, and agree with CITES that objects over 100 years of age have nothing whatsoever to do with species depletion in our current world.
Our offering exceeds the age limitation of "more than 100 years of age", and is well within the exemption for CITES regulation. If imported, met the CITES regulation. This item will be handled and shipped from our Utah business, and is not available for shipment internationally, nor within the USA to California, NY, Nevada, Hawaii, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington if it contains ivory, sorry. Please see our small print for more details.
