In the manner of layered painting and varnish which ages to golden hues over time, and which is called "Vernis Martin" or varnish in the manner of the Brothers Martin. This style was developed in the reign of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, used on walls, furniture and small items in their time and you'll see much of it in the Palace at Versailles when you tour there. These smaller items, objet de virtu, the dates are often a bit later. The painted coin purse you see here would date early to mid-1800s, long after both Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette had met their ill-fated end at the start of the French Revolution. This one survives well, with nearly all of the old original painted and varnish layered surface intact and in fine form and professionally touched up so it's really quite fabulous. The motif on back is the crossed French torches we see carried throughout the French Empire era, as well, but the old courting scene reminds us of the 1700s art of Fragonard, Boucher and the Romantic movement in art, works of which can be found on display in the Louvre today, and in other museums. A lovely bit of history here!
Very good to excellent condition for age and type, with nearly all of the old original painted surface fully intact, and the original silk moire interior inside also in quite remarkably good condition for age. A very little restoration done on this one, primarily near hinge (just painting). The body of the coin purse is ivory. Hinge and clasp working well, and the underlying 'box' of the purse is without chips, breaks or bug bites. A lovely old treasure of note!
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.
