Antique French Grand Tour Souvenir Card Case, Tortoise Shell Necessaire Tortoiseshell

With one of the most lovely and perfectly executed miniature paintings we've seen, this Paris Grand Tour souvenir 'necessaire' or note pad/card case with stylus intact, is a fabulous addition to your collection (or mine!). The image you see so nicely rendered ther on the wafer that is protected still by its glass cover plate, is the Madeleine Church, one of the most famous of all architectural sites in Paris. Rarely do these eglomise souvenir paintings capture the form, detail and perspective so well as does this one. Housed atop a 'necessaire' or card case and notebook combo, popular style for Mid- 1800s Paris, this one is appealing for so many reasons. There is an unmonogrammed silver double-shield cartouche on that beautiful backside, yet to be engraved with initials. You can make it yours!

Very good condition, age and type considered. The cover is just stunning, from glass-covered painting to the rest of this cover. There is a flaw on the front cover, noted in our images, slight bubbled spot at about the 12 o'clock spot, also, more to be felt than seen. The white open spot can be filled, but we wanted to present it as it is. The spine of the necessaire is gilt metal, much finer than most of these with cloth spine. Interior is also in quite good condition for an old necessaire, and is the original creamy moire silk, but originally there would also have been a booklet-like insert with monthly calendar, perhaps a daily page for notes, and a few blank pages, as well. The stylus is the likely original, and will stay. It acts as the pin for the closure, as noted, and there is a looseness to the tip which might need an adjustment or re-mount.

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.