Ages ago, I found these 2 pieces from a fine 19th century vanity set, the large hand mirror and hair brush, and fell in love with them for their exceptional miniature paintings. Look at the detail of the painting on the mirror - filled with tiny details and interesting iconography. The artist uses the French Romantic Era (mid-1700s) artistic movement, reminiscent of Boucher and Fragonard. Look at the huge enlargement of it, note the sword on ground by the picnic basket and the tiny bird picking at crumbs on plate right foreground. A young Lord trying to seduce a shepherd girl who seems to pull away. Are those cast-off flowers on the ground in front of her or are they shards of a broken jug? Love, picking at crumbs, a young girl's seduction complete and her 'virtue' shattered before her. The 2nd young shepherdess flirting. The painting on the brush, another courting scene with happier possibilities. The faces on these are only 1/4" chin to hairline, or less. The mounts and handles are thick opulent slabs, and the pair would date c.1840s. The cover glass on each is excellent and they are in a mounting mat of sterling silver. Full measurements noted on the photos - mirror is just shy of 12" long.
Very good to excellent condition throughout, age and type considered. Remarkably fine - they're nearing 200 years of age by now. I find 2 flaws to note: 1. a very small edge chip on the back of the handle of the brush, and 2. slight disruption to the painting on the brush - likely a little moisture having seeped in at some point. Brush is boar bristle and is clean and fine. Mirror is quite exceptional, and might have been replaced at some point, though I do not see how it is set, if so. Seems to me the ivory overlaps the outer edge of the thick beveled mirror. The thick planks of ivory from which these 2 pieces are made are heavy and superb, grain visible, no warp, no hairlines or cracks to the old natural material.
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. My RARE set!
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.
