sewing implements, including that beautiful mother of pearl seam ripping knife and a fabulous little tape measure; a combination tweezers and ear wax spoon, sterling silver handled scissors with the scabbard or sheath, also in silver; a hallmarked silver thimble with very early marks and the old criss-cross marks as well, and finally, a couple of bodkin-like tools that double as crochet hooks and are as ornate as any I've ever seen. Just beautiful! Each tool prettier than the next. A fine set by any standard, and you know our standards are VERY high!
Very good to excellent condition throughout, the box or etui, casket, is large and exceptionally beautiful. The finest panels of shell used to greatest advantage. The ivory inner lip trim entirely in place as is that of the bottom rim underneath the coffret. Implements show some age and use, but are all complete and original and perfectly fitted to their red velvet case. I'm not sure if that red tape is original to the tape measure, as it hasn't any markings, but truly, it's prettier and I like all of my measurements to be 'red' rather than 'read', anyway, don't you? ; ) Some 'out-of-round' to the finger holes on those scissors, but that's such an easy thing to fix, I meant to do it before our photographer (who is Mr. Speed-demon, to be sure) got the set. But even so, isn't it just grand!
The vast majority of worked and antique object tortoise shell material comes from the shells of two species of sea turtles: the hawksbill (Eretmo-chelys imbricata) and, more rarely, the green turtle (see box A). The shells of these turtles exhibit attractive patterns that normally consist of light to dark brown patches, though a homogeneous “cream”-colored variety called blond tortoise shell also exists.
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.
