Exceptional box, decorated with tortoise shell and mother-of-pearl inlay, 33 cm long, Turkey, late 17th century. The box belonged to a historical figure – Claude Alexandre de Bonneval (Humbaraji Ahmed Pasha, 1675-1747), whose brief biography is given at the end of the article.
Turtle shell has long been used to decorate jewelry and interior items. The excellent decorative properties of this material were reflected in the size of the reptile population. In most countries, the law now prohibits or severely restricts the capture of turtles, there are bans on the import and export of items with tortoiseshell trim. And it is right. And we can enjoy the beauty of the excellent caskets and snuff boxes created by jewelers from this material in the 17th-18th centuries, which we can look at with all due respect to the turtle tribe.
Box from the collection of Rudolf Nureyev, trimmed with tortoiseshell and ivory, probably Gujrat, India, 17th century.Tortoiseshell Box with gold piqué, Naples, mid-18th century.Pique or pique point (pique point) is a decoration technique invented by Italian masters of the 16th-17th centuries. Holes were drilled in the workpiece, into which gold or silver wire was inserted, then the excess was cut off, and the surface of the product was polished. Sometimes gold or silver wire was soldered horizontally. This decoration technique is called pique coule.Snuffbox with the image of a bird flying over flowering bushes, trimmed with a tortoiseshell with a golden pique ornament, probably Dresden, circa 1710. This type of pique ornament, combining small and large dots, is typical of the Dresden craftsmen, although its subject matter is close to the drawings presented in The Japanese Treatise of Stalker and Parker, first published in England in 1688.Louis XVI style tortoiseshell box in gold frame with golden pique pattern, Jean-Adrian Maximilian Vachette, Paris, 1784.Casket in the style of Louis XVI in a gold frame with a gold pique design, Jean-Adrian Maximilian Vachette, Paris, 1784.Snuff box in a gilded silver frame, probably German or Italian work, 7.5 cm long, circa 1730-1740.Tortoiseshell snuffbox decorated with figures of the Commedia dell’Arte in a silver frame, probably German or Italian work, 8 cm long, circa 1730-1740.Tortoiseshell snuff box in a gilded silver frame, 7.5 cm long, circa 1730-1740.Box in a gilded silver frame, probably Neapolitan work, length 8.3 cm, circa 1720-1730.Box in a gilded frame, Neapolitan work, length 12.5 cm, circa 1730-1740.Tortoiseshell box in gold frame with lacquer miniature in Oriental style, Pierre-Guillaume Sallot, Paris, 1781.Rococo tortoiseshell box with mother-of-pearl, Germany, 1730-1740.Tortoiseshell snuff box in gold frame with gold piqué posé et point pattern, Naples, circa 1750.Tortoiseshell snuffbox with gold inlaid chinoiserie decoration, 8 cm long, Naples, circa 1730.Snuffbox with gold inlaid chinoiserie decoration, 8 cm long, Naples, circa 1730.Light tortoise shell snuff box with golden piqué, Naples, mid 18th century.Mother-of-pearl and silver inlay, Germany, mid-18th century.
