French Napoleonic era military officer's 'campaign' travel vanity, "necessaire" c.1800-1818. I'm showing it so you can see the importance of scent/salts in that era, and where a lot of these tiny antique scent bottles come from. The scent flask has a silver cap with silversmith's tiny punch marks (poinçon). This one has an intricate swing-out layer which partially locks the case when it's closed, and also the original working lock and key. Essentials vary case to case, but typically include the items you see: razor, razor strop (sharpening), mirror (this one has been broken, retains only part of the original mirror), dental brush and tooth-scaling triangular head tool, scissors, ear wax spoon and tweezer or tongue scraper, shaving brush, small silver or tin box for tooth powders or soap. This one has a pair of boot pulls (hinged in centers), and a map ruler.
Very likely purchased originally in Palais Royal boutique. Napoleon and his officers did frequent Palais Royal which by that time had changed to the changing 'populist' leadership. Shown in the final image alongside boot snuffs and a small vest 'necessaire' from the era and slightly earlier.
Very good to excellent condition for age and type, over 200 years old. You can see that the thin mirror has been broken and only partially remains in its frame. Some corrosion on the hinged boot pull pair (quire rare to find a case this complete, and particularly with the boot pulls). Boar bristle shaving brush and toothbrush (which is a little tight in its compartment, as is the small rectangular box which would hold toothpaste or soap). Two items have gone missing from the case, open fittings visible on the top platform. Razor has a loss to the ivory handle covers to one end (check photos). Very rare to find these as complete as this one is. Note the working lock with key, and that the key has been somewhat smashed.
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.
