Another from my long-time collections, this is a pretty French Silver and Tortoise shell coin purse, Napoleon III Era (c.1850-70s), interior of heavier moire silk which has a fitted apparatus to close off a coin compartment. These little purses were often gifted to girls at their first communion, the idea being she would take her offerings to church using this special coin purse. Full measurements noted on the photos.
Very good to excellent tortoise shell on this one. Really so beautiful in hand. I'm quite sure the silver fittings and exterior strapping is sterling, but I don't see marks. The inner compartment fitting is not silver, however. And I apologize, the interior of this one is really in quite fine condition, a heavier silk than usual. But it got to my photographer before I'd cleaned someone's silver paste off the fabric and you see there is a residue showing. It cleaned off beautifully and fully and so interior is also now excellent. My apologies for the photos, which I'll try to replace.
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.
