A souvenir box, c.1850-70s, lathe-turned carved ivory hinged snuff or trinket or perhaps bonbon, sometimes we see this style of 19th century box together with a rosary. Sometimes this style box is fitted inside for a pocket watch. Mounted on top, protected beneath a slightly convex cover glass is a hand painted portrait miniature of a woman in costume from the 1770s, French Romantic era. It might have been a souvenir of someone's trip to Versailles. It's one I've had for probably 40 years. Collections being disbursed now. Measurements are noted on the photos.
Very good to excellent condition for age and type, this one is remarkably unscathed by time, considering the usual propensity of the material to shrink over time and form small hairlines, or chips from being dropped. I will point out one flaw along the outer border of the portrait's mount, a little of the ivory overlap missing from about the 9 - 11 o'clock position. Hinge and clasp working perfectly and no warp. The painting has no moisture damage, which this type most often did through time, and is a very pretty little souvenir painting.
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.
