Looks to be a military uniform, some braid on the red collar of the navy blue jacket. From the powdered wig era in style, putting his painting c.1750-70s, during reign of Louis XV to XVI and quite likely a noble in the era of The French Revolution. The painting is in gouache on thin ivory wafer, protected under original glass (one flashing chip - look for 'x') and mounted in 18k gold faced mat, set into the rare old ivory snuff box lid, or patch box lid. Signed by artist, "Desiny" and then what looks like either "pixil" or maybe a Roman numeral. The box is ivory with trim in tortoiseshell. Box is 2 3/8" diameter and 1 tall, closed. Portrait is 1 3/4" x 1 1/2" oval portrait.
Very good to excellent condition for age and type. Over 250 years old, it remains remarkably unscathed. Four edge bands of tortoise shell are intact, 1 shrinkage opening on top and a little bit of bug nips on bottom trim. Likewise the ivory box has 1 shrinkage crack, just at the side of lid. A couple scratch lines on lid, and one flashing chip on inside cover glass at about the 7 o'clock position, shows at angle about 1/8" round. The 18k gold face of mat has some dings. Interior as shown.
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.
