So beautifully preserved, this one! A superb miniature painting, 3/4 pose of a charming your woman, a chateau distant in landscape outside her window. Interesting pose, and her fashion and the age of the box makes me wonder if that sash she holds, along with her pensive look and the chateau might be a portrait of a Royalist in exile, post French Revolution, about c. 1780-90s. There's a wistful sadness to her look and pose. Were the long sash red, I would be certain this is what we're seeing - the red sash an icon for a lost loved one at guillotine, or of lost Royals (Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, to the guillotine. A memento of the time, the snuff box with its 18k facing (thin plaque, not just a plating) on the portrait mount up top. Full measurements are noted on the photos.
Very good to excellent condition throughout. Unless there might be slight fading of the gouache/watercolor, I find no flaws to note on the little painting. The box is beautifully crafted, accent layer and bottom of 230 year old ivory, spaced with red tortoise shell which matches the interior lining. A few interior surface abrasions, perhaps from use, but more likely a keepsake of an era, thick with political significance of deposed and exiled Royalists and elites.
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.
