Antique Georgian 18k and Enamel 'Souvenir' Etui, 'Boite a' Mouche', Patch Box or Toothpick Box, Ivory

$995.00

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This little French etui, either once held toothpick and teeth cleaning implements, or it held patches (the little black dots men and women, alike, applied to their faces in mid-1700s to late 1700s). The ivory box is enhanced by a raised border of cut steel 'jewels', and further by the deep convex raised cartouche of glass covering a foiled or enameled cobalt blue ground with raised ornament of 18k gold (as is the frame on the cartouche, I might add) that says, "souvenir", is encircled by a neat row of seed pearls. The interior is still fitted with the original silk velvet lining, and has its original mirror still in the lid. A fabulous find! These are more and more rare. We've amassed a bit of a collection, meaning someone else's exquisite museum-quality collection has been recently disbursed into the marketplace. We can go years between seeing these fine ones, and then will locate numerous ones all within a short time, which tells us another collector's treasures have found their way into a posthumous marketplace.

Very good to excellent condition, age and type considered. Apart from some natural appearance of its advanced age, there is a flaw to note in that the mirror inside has a little loss to the silver; no cracks or chips, but a little bit of age to the old silvered glass is all. Really quite amazing, given the age. Superb museum quality 1700s treasure!

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.

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