Fabulous antique French Napoleon III era jewelry casket, a serpentine shaped gilded bronze box with stunning hand painted portrait miniature of a blue eyed beauty! One can only describe it as Rococo Revival, often overlapping with the Napoleon III or Second Empire taste in France. The box/casket itself with scrolling rocaille ornamentation, dense floral chasing and repoussé work with a curving or serpentine outline and highly decorative, gilded surface. This kind of ornate historicism was especially popular in France in the mid-to-late 19th century.
Miniatures like this were massively popular personal commissions before photography. The majority depict private individuals, not public figures. Even museum-held examples are frequently catalogued simply as “unknown sitter” when no inscription survives. The blue background and airy brushwork are reminiscent of artists influenced by Richard Cosway, a leading English miniaturist of the period—but many artists worked in this style, so this is not an attribution, just a comparison.
Very good to excellent condition. I see no dents, damage or losses to the exterior and the interior appears original but is missing the inner lid fabric liner (we could replace that with a cream colored moire style fabric but then it would not match the base lining, just let us know when you purchase). The portrait is in fine shape with no cracking though there is what appears to be a cat hair or piece of thread on it in some of the pics, not any damage as you can see from the portrait enlargement photo. See pictures for measurements.
