Incredibly well preserved 19th century French .800/1000 silver and serpentine carved ivory coin purse, dating c.1850-1900. Noted as made in PARIS, you see that the silver frame is hallmarked with the French maker and silversmith's marks (tiny boar's head in profile) and the diamond-shaped poincon (punch mark) in several places. Bevel-mounted front and back in slightly convex plaques of ivory, then mounted with a silver cartouche which has never been monogrammed. It's like new, considering age, and the heavy moire silk interior is in superb condition, divides into 3 open sections and one more which has silver mounting to lock it off from the others. These little coin purses were traditional gifts in France on the event of a child's confirmation. Often they came in boxed sets along with an aide d'memoire and/or a prayer book, all made to match. We have a few sets if you look on site, sold separately and still in their presentation box. The tradition being that the child would put their money inside and put it in the offerings box at their church or cathedral. Measurements are noted on the photos.
Excellent condition for age and type, I see nothing to indicate this one was ever used, and that interior is one of the best I've ever seen or owned. From my own longtime collection, time to disburse them all. Rare to have a silver mount such as this one. One of my all-time favorites. Look for others, all sold separately.
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.
