Another favorite from my lifelong collections. An exceptionally nice little French coin purse, excellent inside and out, dates to Napoleon III (Victorian) era, c.1850-70. These little purses were often part of a larger gift-boxed set traditionally given as a gift at confirmation (Catholic). This one is by itself, perhaps somewhere out there a matching aide d'memoire exists. The tradition is that a child or young woman would put their coins into it and take it to mass, donate the money. This one is petit, no notable flaws, really, and appears to have never been used. A treasured souvenir of a right of passage for French children. Measurements noted on the photos.
Very good to excellent condition for age and type, not a bug bite, nip nor flaw to the outer case, which is rather rare. Inlays of colorful mother of pearl and silver and gold. A silver scroll cartouche has not been engraved. The interior, as you can see, is also in exceptionally fine condition. Red silk with a silver-mount locking compartment for coins.
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.
