Exquisite & rare antique French Dieppe hand carved genuine ivory writers set including pen & page or book marker with fabulous Brittany style figural busts! Aren't these fabulous!! Both pieces pristine and kept in the original fitted travel, storage and/or presentation box with gilt embossed decoration. Remarkable detail to the figures, aren't they darling!
During the 1600′s, Dieppe, France was a flourishing seaport and a major commerce center, one of the first in France. The Merchant Prince, D’Ango or the "Medici of Dieppe" as he came to be known, brought great supplies raw materials from Africa and India to the port of Dieppe. The abundance of these materials helped to establish Dieppe as a center known for its fine carvings. Even though Dieppe lost its status as a thriving port after the bombardment during the war of 1694 with England, the unequaled delicacy of the figures, boxes, sewing items and decorative objects that were produced is still recognized today. The Castle Museum in Dieppe has Europe’s largest collection with over one thousand exquisitely sculpted pieces.
“The work of Dieppe artists from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries will probably never be surpassed. Their surviving works are scattered among many museums and private collections but enough of them can be seen at the little Musee of their native town to show that they put their souls into their work, and that the cunning of their hands was guided by a fine sense of the beauty of form and delicacy of detail. These delicious little monuments which they have left behind bear testimony to their wondrous artistic ingenuity, and may be ranked in value with objets d’art cast in the precious metals”. A quote from The Connoisseur, Volume 21, J.T. Herbert Baily 1908, (pg. 164).
Very good to excellent condition. Both implements are as near pristine as could be, I see no chips, there are no cracks or repairs. The box does show its age some but quite a bit less than you would expect given their age. A very slight warp to the box and some imperfections to the leatherette covering. See pictures for all measurements.
