Again, from my own collections, a gorgeous French Empire portrait miniature set into a tortoise shell box, whether snuff or bonbon, and kept as a lasting memento of this beautiful young mother and her baby. One of my favorites - oh, they're all favorites, aren't they. Miniatures of children are rare, and babies, perhaps rarest of all. This little one's face is only 1/4" - and yet you see the sweetness of her face. The mother wears the typical fashion of Napoleonic French Empire, including seed pearl tiara, making her dat quite easy, somewhere between 1800-1810.
Very good condition for age and type, with one chip to the back of the lid and a couple of bug-bite roughed edges on the very bottom. I did not test the mat which holds her neatly together with her original convex cover glass, but it is likely that it has at least a thick 14-18k foil, it retains the high gold and no tarnish. The box displays beautifully, and the subject and condition of the painting makes it rare and superb as it is.
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.
