Oh, she's such a beauty, and poses for her artist with a gentleness, a smile and gentle demeanor, surely someone's love. The oversized or 'table' snuff box to which her portrait is set is large and superb. No chips, but the bottom outer edge has some bug bites creating a roughness to be mostly felt with the fingertips. Displays beautifully. Treated in soft pastel backing and rather casual dress, the portrait is captivating. I'm sure the woman was, as well. I always wish we had the story to go along with the art and treasure which survives. I did lift the portrait from its recess in the lid, only to find it is uniquely backed by a metal roundel, so I didn't try further to remove her to get better photos, nor to give the old convex glass's interior a final cleaning. You see her with a few glares on that convex cover glass and slight distortion, yet in hand and in display, she is just magnificent. A personal favorite!
Very good to excellent condition for age (c.1770-1790), without damage to the slender vulnerable inner lip of the box's bottom, and a smooth fitting snuff box without warp. The only flaw notable would be a series of tiny bug nips to the outer bottom rim of the base, which you can review in our photos. In display, it's glorious, but in hand you can feel the nips. I did not test the face of the round frame into which she and her convex cover glass are set. From appearance, it likely has a karat gold thick foil fronting to a brass backing, which is how so many of these are.
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.
