Wonderful antique French Napoleon III era pocket watch or pendant display casket, an ornate box or miniature vitrine with hunt themed figural tableau in bas relief with hunters, hounds & game and thick beveled glass! One of our favorite style of antique pocket watch casket, the hunt themed ones, is shown here in this very nice large example of elegant old French bas relief work, an early manufactured good for the Grand Tour and export business. The casket is rich in deep bas relief hunt scenes that include hunters, guns & bugles or horns, horses & hounds, fox, pheasant, and wild boar, among the copious foliage and forest scenes. The hinged glass door swings upward and reveals a watch hook inside. It's the type of casket a gentleman might use at evening to store his time piece in a way that left it displayed as a bedside or even a desktop clock. A great piece and one of two nearly identical pieces that we're adding this week, among a handful of faublous old Napoleon III marquetry pocket watch boxes so, be sure to browse some while you're with us. Thanks!
Very good to excellent condition. Basically, its only possible flaw is the replaced interior lining which likely would have been a tufted silk padded bottom liner with fabric or silk sides (usually); a bit of scratches to the old glass top. No chips or cracks, though - great for display of a large sized pocket watch, as this one is nice and large, or even a portrait miniature might work inside - surely your best micro mosaic brooches would look fabulous displayed so, particularly if it's a largish plaque with hound. Wow! Great, huh? No dents or damage to the metal at all though you can see that it may have had a silvered finish originally with a hint of silver in the recessed areas of the bas relief - a really nice old one. See pictures for all measurements.
