From my old collections, this is one of my favorites of the French aide d'memoire, necessaire, card cases. Dating Mid-Victorian, Napoleon III era (c.1850-70s) it might have been first purchased as a souvenir of someone's Grand Tour. Surviving in exceptionally good condition for age, the rich royal purple silk moire interior is still intact and complete with notepad, and the original retracting stylus or pencil still remains as the clasp anchor. I did not test the cartouche, but one this fine is likely 18k gold. It has never tarnished at all, remains brilliantly gold. A curved tortoise shell spine on this one, also. Rich cognac to chocolate coloration to the tortoise shell.
Very good to excellent for age and type, the only flaws notable would be a bug bite on the spine, and the silk frayed and gone from the closure loops. Notebook in place with its gilded edges. Tiniest corner nip, visible on our photos. Measurements noted on photos.
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.
