Late 1700s, quite certainly an early portrait miniature of Napoleon Bonaparte before he became a legend. His rising years through the French Revolution and well before his rise to reign in 1804. The painting is very fine, profile in gouache on wafer, typical of late 1700s, he wears a red tall collar uniform coat rich in gold metallic embroidery. Hair lighter in his rising military years, the face is unmistakable. The 3 1/8" x 1 1/4" table snuff is made of reconstituted or mold-pressed blond tortoise shell, and is surprisingly well preserved, shoring 2 minor flaws (noted with "x" on photos for your review.
Very good to excellent condition for age and type, materials. The painting remains in superior condition, the wafer has very slightly shrunken with age which is quite normal, and one can see edge to his left. Convex cover glass and brass mat (not gold, as might later be done with Napoleon) remain fully intact and I did not even try to dislodge nor open it. The pattern around perimeter of top is either carved or steam-pressed, and I lean toward carved. There are 2 shrinkage hairlines visible on outer rim of the top half of box, and not a single one anywhere on that semi-transparent bottom half. Even the slender inner lip is undamaged. The box fits smoothly and evenly together - no warp. Interior of the lid has a liner of cognac and chocolate mottled tortoise shell. Museum quality piece!
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.
