Antique French Jewel Casket
This rare and beautiful antique jewel casket dates to the era of Napoleon III. The case is constructed of Birdseye maple and has marquetry style edge banding. Centered on the top is a medallion very similar in appearance to Jasperware (classically ornamented ceramics with sprigged figures and draped garlands in white relief against a colored ground devised by Wedgwood). It is, in fact, a very rare signed (marked) Sčvres pâte sur pâte plaque.
Sčvres porcelain is known to be both the French porcelain of royalty and the royal porcelain of France. Developed at the Sčvres factory toward the end of the 1840s, pâte sur pâte is an elaborate and expensive technique of decorating porcelain. A translucent cameo-like image is built up by the brush application of numerous thin layers of liquid clay known as white slip. The pâte sur pâte artist not only was required to be truly skilled but to be a very delicate carver as well. Jasperware, although offering likewise white reliefs on colored backgrounds, is produced by mechanical means. A pâte sur pâte bas relief is always an original and a copy of it can only be made by the artist who had crafted the original one.
Entirely handmade and magnificent, the medallion depicts a putto or cherub seated upon a flower basket. The figure has a pear-shaped body with small shoulders and broad hips, its left arm raised in triumph as it clasps a victory wreath. The casket itself is a unique treasure, covered with a veneer of rare and unusual Birdseye maple and appointed with rosewood and mahogany edge bands; it is lined with antique silk.
Measures 5-7/8 inches (14.5 cm) in length by 1-3/4 inches (4.4 cm) in height By 4-1/8 inches (10.6 cm) at the deepest by less than 2-1/2 inches (6.4 cm) at each end. In excellent condition with nary a sign of its age. Both the medallion and the exterior are in superb condition. There are no cracks or chips in the porcelain and no loss to the veneer or edging of the casket. The interior base lining is original; some slight separation at the top edges and spotted holes in the bottom fabric. The top has been re-lined (over the original) with an antique silk fragment. Dates to the mid to late 1800s and is French in origin. A superb dressing table chest for jewels, letters and other dear objects.
Historical note: The Sčvres porcelain factory was initially under the patronage of Louis XV’s mistress, Madame du Barry and later under Marie Antoinette.
