One of the old Palais Royal treasures with all the charm we all look for from the early 1800s boutiques that lined the old Richelieu Palace grounds, this little ‘necessaire’ (empty pocket) is a lovely old one and might have come out of one of the grand coffrets the French made that had layers and layers of ‘essentials’ for travelers on the early 1800s Grand Tours, or might have been part of a smaller lady’s necessaire along with sewing items. The shield cartouche is typical of these sets, and is 18k gold. In lovely form, it says “Souvenir” on one side, as you can see, and still has the 4 thin wafers within that are for taking notes, jotting visiting schedules and etc. Something like a Napoleon era iPhone ancestor, non? The long and lauded history of the Palais Royal is rich and amazing, and from Louis XIV to Napoleon and beyond, the old Palace was a thriving enterprise of theatre, dining and finest shopping for Royals, Courtiers and the wealthiest patrons and travelers of the world. One can still visit it, there near the Louvres, and have a sense of what it might have been like at one time.
Very good to excellent condition throughout, no chips or cracks on any of the thin wafers within, nor on the 2 mother of pearl shell covers, though one has a line etched and gives indication that it might have been filed away there, perhaps having been one of these that would have had a fixture on one side that self-latched with insertion of a pencil or stylus. Look closely at our images to see what I mean. I’m unsure if that’s it, just pointing out. The size is quite large for one of these. We’ve got them in sizes down to about half this one’s size, so please do note the measurements: 3 3/8″ longest, 2 1/4″ wide, and 1/4″ thick with 4 ivory pages within. Tiniest nip to corner here or there.
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.
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