Antique French Shagreen table snuff, large at 4" diameter and 1 5/8" tall when closed. The beautiful old box is wood bodied and the veneer of stingray belly leather (shagreen) is intact, though has a few shrinkage and age splits as you can see. Typical of the old shagreen, none is missing and the coloration and evenness of same is really quite astounding for age. Set into the top, protected under slightly convex original glass, is a superb c.1700s hand carved ivory medallion with an interior scene. Likely after a painting, I did not research the scene. If you recognize it, please email us. Thanks.
The c.1700s or earlier carved ivory panel has shrunken slightly through the centuries, which is also typical, and you can very slightly see the outer border of the roundel at angle. This is typical, but no hairlines nor cracks at all.
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.
