I do love these tiny paintings, and am continually fascinated at the artists who could, as in this case, complete such a superb tiny work of art - her face is actually less than 1/4", chin to hairline. She tells a story, but it's mostly lost to us now. Was it a snuff box given a a love token, showing her holding a portrait of her love? She wasn't mourning, the clothing is wrong. She seems dressed in fine 1st Empire attire, and wears a tiara popular in that era of Napoleon and Josephine. Is it a wink? There is no damage to the painting, so I do think she is winking, but we will never know. The artist paid attention to the vase of flowers, the greenery outside the open door, and to the furnishings as well as to her gown and earrings, tiara. The old snuff box is barely 2 5/8" in diameter, and 1" tall when closed.
Very good to excellent condition throughout for age and type. The original convex cover glass remains undamaged, and clean within. I did not take the mount off the box or open it up since there was nothing to clean away - a couple of tiny dust bits not even visible to the naked eye. I do not think the mount is karat gold. It might be a low karat, if at all. I didn't test because one must scratch it to test and that would show. The lathe-turned ivory snuff box is really elegant, in spite of 2 spots where the shrinking material has split. That's such a typical thing with age on these. The inner lining is brilliant chocolate to red tortoise shell and it remains fully intact. No staining and no scent to it, it might have been a bonboniere or patch box rather than snuff. A charming piece throughout.
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.
