Beautiful & rare antique French Napoleon III era shell carnet bal or necessaire with ornate reticulated silver inlay, interior ivory page and original fitted presentation box! One of the more beautiful old tortoiseshell pieces we've found lately, this one boasts sleek, elegant thick shell covers, stunning engraved silver floral inlays and a complete interior. Preserved wonderfully in the original fitted box, the shell is as lustrous as can be! Perfect for the collector!
Very good condition. The box is in fine shape, no exterior damage other than a bit of scuffing and the interior lining is both intact and in nearly pristine condition. There is one small chip to the shell near the lower hinge, a hairline crack (roughly 1/8") near the top hinge. No missing or lifted inlays, no interior loss or damage. There are 'loops' on the outside of the ivory page that would hold a pencil, the original pencil lost over the years. See pictures for measurements.
The vast majority of worked and antique object tortoise shell material comes from the shells of two species of sea turtles: the hawksbill (Eretmo-chelys imbricata) and, more rarely, the green turtle (see box A). The shells of these turtles exhibit attractive patterns that normally consist of light to dark brown patches, though a homogeneous “cream”-colored variety called blond tortoise shell also exists.
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.
