Decorative Boxes
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1,426
6,867
940
96
410
2,097
4,360
1,036
1,101
1,551
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186
86
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223
106
216
357
521
198
69
927
620
614
430
190
190
155
108
107
95
86
85
85
78
62
42
27
19
3,795
3,150
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1,016
855
4,105
3,253
4,962
1,353
1,280
1,207
1,021
Height
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165
106
64
58
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Decorative Boxes For Sale
Line Vautrin
s Jewelry box
By Line Vautrin
Located in Paris, FR
Jewelry box by Line Vautrin
1946
Talosel and incrusted mirror
6x4 cm
Category
1940s French Vintage Decorative Boxes
Materials
Talosel
Vintage Sterling Silver And Wood English Hinged Small Box Desk Accessory
Located in North Miami, FL
This lovely small vintage turn of the century sterling silver hinged box has a wood interior with etched design top. There are English hallmarks on the bottom that are clearly visibl...
Category
Early 20th Century English International Style Decorative Boxes
Materials
Sterling Silver
$1,000 Sale Price
20% Off
Vintage "Day of the Dead" Miniature Mexican Diarama
Located in San Diego, CA
Vintage "Day of the Dead" miniature Mexican diarama, circa 1970s. The box displays a scene skeletons in a bar playing pool; it is in very good vintage ...
Category
20th Century Mexican Decorative Boxes
Materials
Wood
$220 Sale Price
20% Off
Pair of 19th Century Hand Painted Store Counter Bins Signed Duane St NYC
By Empire NY
Located in Port Jervis, NY
Spectacular pair of hand decorated large store tins from lower Manhattan C1875. Created by Empire Hardware Co from Duane st NYC. Hand decorated and sold to a local downtown business...
Category
1870s American Industrial Antique Decorative Boxes
Materials
Metal
$767 Sale Price / item
20% Off
1970
s Ceramic box by Mithé Espelt
By Mithé Espelt
Located in Bois-Colombes, FR
1970's Ceramic box by Mithé Espelt
Category
1970s French Vintage Decorative Boxes
Materials
Ceramic, Wood
Art Noveade German Silver Jewelry Box 800
Located in Autonomous City Buenos Aires, CABA
Art Noveade 800 German Silver Jewelry Box
A Box with an intricate pattern engraved on its surface. The pattern consists of swirls and floral ...
Category
20th Century German Art Nouveau Decorative Boxes
Materials
Silver
Collection of Ernest Sohn Enamels, circa 1970s
Located in St.Petersburg, FL
A collection of four enamel pieces by Ernest Sohn, including 2 boxes and 2 dishes. Made of walnut and enamel on brass.
Category
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Decorative Boxes
Materials
Enamel
Vintage Italian Raymor Ceramic Lidded Flower Box Turquoise and White
By Raymor
Located in North Miami, FL
This lovely vintage Italian hallmarked lidded ceramic flower box by Raymor is from the 60's. The colors are turquoise, white with outlines of gray charcoal. The hallmarks read 03529 ...
Category
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Decorative Boxes
Materials
Ceramic
Italy 1940s Aldo Tura Goat Skin, Brass and Wood Tobacco Container, Pipe Shape
Located in Roma, IT
Tobacco container by Aldo Tura, Italy 1940s in goatskin, brass and wood. The container has two compartments, one for storing tobacco and another for storing and lighting the games. D...
Category
1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Decorative Boxes
Materials
Brass
Antique Chinese lacquered leather box - XIXème
Located in Linkebeek, BE
Antique Chinese lacquered leather box
Original signature seal - Asian Art
Measures : 20x11cm H:3,5cm
Material : Leather - copper
Category
19th Century Chinese Chinoiserie Antique Decorative Boxes
Materials
Copper
Mid-20th Century Japanese Yamanaka Lacquerware Sweets Box
Located in Chapel Hill, NC
Mid-20th century Yamanaka lacquerware sweets box for tea ceremony, Japanese. Formed as a deep black apple with gold & colored enamel decoration. Post WWII. Provenance: Sherman E. Lee...
Category
Mid-20th Century Japanese Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Materials
Enamel
Vintage Italian Parquetry Miniature Bombe
Chest
Located in Bradenton, FL
Miniature parquetry two drawer bombe chest made in Italy. All sides including back are finished.
Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Baroque Decorative Boxes
Materials
Wood
Solid Lucite trinket Box with Marbelized Interior Postmodern Italy
Located in San Diego, CA
Whimsical trinket lucite box with marbelized interior , very nice condition a tiny fleabite overall very clean.
Category
20th Century Italian Post-Modern Decorative Boxes
Materials
Lucite
Art Deco Musical Ladies Powder Compact Box, c1930
Located in Devon, England
Beautiful Art Deco ladies musical powder box. It appears to not have ever been used and as such is in remarkable condition. Bright red enamel exterior with gold accents to the edges ...
Category
Mid-20th Century European Art Deco Decorative Boxes
Materials
Brass
21st Century, Hand-Carved Clear Crystal and Bronze Box
Located in Calenzano, FI
Clear crystal box with cut engravings embellished with brass detail made with the artisan lost wax technique with patinated gold finish. Each object is handcrafted and the care for e...
Category
2010s Italian Louis XVI Decorative Boxes
Materials
Crystal, Bronze
Exquisite Rare Colorful Crystal Detailed Large Egyptian Trinket Jewelry Box
Located in New York, NY
The Following Item that we are offering is A Rare and Impressive Magnificent and Exquisite Rare Large Handpainted Enamel Egyptian Jewelry Holder / Pil...
Category
20th Century French Decorative Boxes
Materials
Enamel
$275 Sale Price
44% Off
Vintage Coastal Reed and Faux Snake Skin Chest
Located in Delray Beach, FL
Vintage coastal bamboo eeed and faux snakeskin chest or decorative box.
Simple treasure chest shape and feel. Boho and British colonial aesthetic. Functions as intended.
Each line ...
Category
Late 20th Century Philippine Hollywood Regency Decorative Boxes
Materials
Bamboo, Wood
Mosaic Middle Eastern Moorish Trinket Box
By Mamluke
Located in Moreno Valley, CA
Handcrafted marquetry Middle Eastern Moorish wood inlay micro mosaic with miniature hand painted scene of birds.
Handcrafted khatam wooden box ...
Category
20th Century Lebanese Moorish Decorative Boxes
Materials
Wood
Box with fired enamels painted like lapis lazuli stone and horse racing Salimben
Located in Firenze, FI
Shaped table box in 925/1000 sterling Silver gold plated with fired enamels painted like lapis lazuli stone and with fired enameled oval miniature, hand painted by the painter Renato...
Category
1970s Italian Art Nouveau Vintage Decorative Boxes
Materials
Gold, Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
Hand-Carved Stone Jewelry Box Rajasthan, India
By Agra
Located in Moreno Valley, CA
Anglo Raj carved soap stone footed jewelry box..
Handcrafted decorative box with foliage design with soap stone natural jade like colors.
Lined with red velvet.
Very nice fine art...
Category
Mid-20th Century Indian Anglo Raj Decorative Boxes
Materials
Soapstone
Chinese Canton Enamel Lobed Round Box, Qianlong Mark, Late Qing Dynasty, China
Located in Austin, TX
A well painted Chinese Canton enamel lobed round box and cover featuring the Eight Immortals, with a Qianlong mark to the underside, late Qing Dynasty, circa 1900, China
The deligh...
Category
Early 1900s Chinese Qing Antique Decorative Boxes
Materials
Copper, Enamel
19th Century Dragonfly-Decorated Carved Coconut with Silver Mounts
Located in New York, NY
19th Century carved coconut container featuring intricate dragonfly motifs on both the coconut shell and the silver banded closure. The coconut is skillfully incised with geometric a...
Category
19th Century French Antique Decorative Boxes
Materials
Silver
Japanese Antique Lacquer Maki-E Miniature Hasami-Bako with Copper Mounts
Located in Atlanta, GA
A Japanese lacquered box with lid in the shape of a miniature Hasami-Bako (traveling chest) circa late 18 to early 19th century of the Edo period....
Category
Early 19th Century Japanese Japonisme Antique Decorative Boxes
Materials
Copper
Table Box Enamel on Guilloche Hand Painted Miniature Sterling Silver Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Square box in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent fired enamel on guillochè also on the sides. In the center, a beautiful hand painted tempera miniature on a vegetable ivory plate depicting the portrait of a 19th century lady, signed by the painter Anna Maria Manfriani. Dimensions cm. 12 x 12 x 2.5. Weight gr. 618. Designed by Franco Salimbeni in 1976 and manufactured in Florence in some specimens with various subjects and different colors, in the headquarters of the Salimbeni Company with completely manual execution by artisan artists with thick slab and large reinforcements suitable for withstanding numerous enamelled firings at about 800° C.
Miniature is a very ancient technique which consists of painting works in small proportions.
It was born for the decoration of the first letter of the paragraph of the books.
Over the years, however, this technique is refined and enriched, then moving on to precious personal items.
Hand painted miniatures can be done with multiple different techniques.
The most important that we use on our articles are of three kinds:
1) Fire enamel.
2) Water tempera on an ivory plate.
3) Painted on mother-of-pearl.
Fire enameled miniatures:
On a first layer of enamel generally white or very clear or even transparent suitably liquefied at a temperature of about 750 ° C, the chosen subject is painted using miniature colors which are as many colored crystals, ground and reduced to a very fine, almost impalpable powder washed and purified in distilled water with the addition of small quantities of deoxidizing acids which, diluted with essential oils (usually essential oil of solder), can be mixed to form a palette of colors.
With very fine sable hair brushes you draw the subject starting from the perimeter and then gradually adding various layers of color.
It is necessary to carry out various firings very often so that the colors harden and are not absorbed by the underlying glaze as, during the subsequent firings at 750 ° C, during liquefaction, it would spread irremediably. Hence the need to form the painting a little at a time, cooking it numerous times.
Therefore it is necessary to proceed with numerous retouching, often overlapping different colors that only the painter's experience knows. A beautiful miniature needs from 20 to over 50 firings and is finished when the painter deems he does not have to further intervene.
Some colors must have darker tones than others because then, by superimposing the transparent enamel placed at the end of the miniature, they fade. This transparent layer, called “fondant” in jargon, must be smoothed and polished like all other translucent enamel colors.
The miniatures with water tempera colors are painted on real ivory...
Category
1970s Italian Modern Vintage Decorative Boxes
Materials
Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
Original Box Purse by Enid Collins hand-decorated Painted
Signed 1970
s USA
By Enid Collins
Located in San Diego, CA
This is a stunning and rare vintage **Original Box Bag** by renowned American artist **Enid Collins**, a timeless piece that beautifully captures mid-century style and craftsmanshi...
Category
20th Century American Bohemian Decorative Boxes
Materials
Wood
Carved Mahogany Cat with Secret Compartment
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Anglo Indian carved mahogany cat with ebonized stripes and a curious expression, featuring a secret compartment on the bottom.
Category
Early 20th Century Indian Anglo-Indian Decorative Boxes
Materials
Mahogany
1900
s Carved wood decorative "shell " box
Located in Bois-Colombes, FR
1900's Carved wood decorative "shell " box
One of a kind / Hand made
Category
Early 1900s European Antique Decorative Boxes
Materials
Wood
Maitland Smith Jewelry Box
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Maitland Smith decorative jewelry box made of two tone tessellated pen shell with brass detailing.
Category
1980s Philippine Hollywood Regency Vintage Decorative Boxes
Materials
Shell
Rare English Edwardian Classical Sterling Silver Jeweled Box, 1908
By George Henry Cowell
Located in New York, NY
Rare Edwardian Classical sterling silver box. Made by George Henry Cowell in London in 1908. Rectangular with spread base and hinged cover. Cover top had beaded scrollwork mounted wi...
Category
Early 1900s English Edwardian Antique Decorative Boxes
Materials
Multi-gemstone, Sterling Silver
William And Mary Kingwood Coffre-Fort
Located in Essex, MA
With rectangular hinged top with brass strap mounting. When open the front folds down to expose hidden compartments and wells. Case mounted the same as the lid. Side carry handles. I...
Category
Early 18th Century European William and Mary Antique Decorative Boxes
Materials
Brass
Art Deco Whiting
Davis Dresden Enamel Mesh Evening Purse Shadow Box/Display
Located in Guaynabo, PR
This is an Art Deco Whiting & Davis Dresden mesh evening purse. It is enamel hand painted with royal blue, yellow, orange and green colors featuring an “i...
Category
Early 20th Century American Art Deco Decorative Boxes
Materials
Metal
$487 Sale Price
25% Off
Irwin Whitaker Abstract Enameled Trinket Box
Located in Dallas, TX
Trinket box, velvet-lined, enamel on copper plate by Irwin Whitaker. Irwin Whitaker - Oklahoma-born artist who was prolific in California, Taos, Austin...
Category
1970s North American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Decorative Boxes
Materials
Copper, Enamel
Fornasetti Rectangular Box with Smoking Motif
By Fornasetti
Located in Palm Desert, CA
Fornasetti long, rectangular, box with a charming illustration of three pipes. Hand colored Lithography on metal. Exterior metal box slides over a metal interior box, powder coated...
Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Materials
Tin
19th Century Victorian Walnut Games Compendium, Cards
Board Games, C.1890
Located in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent
Antique late-19th century Victorian walnut cased games compendium, the interior comprising a chess set, draughts, dominoes, dice, cribbage board with markers, leather bound boards for games, playing cards, droughts counters, a dice shaker...
Category
19th Century British Victorian Antique Decorative Boxes
Materials
Walnut
Art Deco Sparton Model 500C "Cloisonné" Catalin AM Radio
Located in Van Nuys, CA
The Sparton Cloisonne´ model 500C radio, introduced in 1939, is a veritable Art Deco masterpiece attributed to Walter Dorwin Teague. Its compact housing features a colorful metallic ...
Category
1930s American Art Deco Vintage Decorative Boxes
Materials
Plastic
$13,996 Sale Price
20% Off
Tessellated Horn and Wood Veneer Trinket Box in the Style of R
Y Augousti
By R
Y Augousti
Located in San Diego, CA
A very well crafted tessellated horn and wood veneer trinket box in the style of R & Y Augousti, circa 1990s. The piece is in very good condition and measures 4.75" W x 4.75" D x 3.2...
Category
Late 20th Century North American Organic Modern Decorative Boxes
Materials
Horn, Wood
$300 Sale Price
20% Off
Antique American Victorian Rococo Sterling Silver
Leather Letter Box
Located in New York, NY
American Victorian Rococo sterling silver and leather letter box, ca 1880. Rectangular base with straight sides and slant hinged cover with curved front. Applied open silver ornament...
Category
Late 19th Century American Victorian Antique Decorative Boxes
Materials
Sterling Silver
Military Campaign Burr Walnut
Brass Bound Writing Slope With Leather Interior
Located in Reading, Berkshire
Antique British Military Campaign 19th Century Burr Walnut & Brass Bound Writing Slope With Ebonized Trim.
The Interior Features a tooled Blue Leather Scriver, A Single Glass Inkwell, A Handcrafted Exquisite Gift For The Writing Enthusiast.
Item will include new notepad pad, Quill pen (modern), and one single glass inkwell and Ink Pen and Lockable Key
Antique lap...
Category
19th Century British Campaign Antique Decorative Boxes
Materials
Brass
French Victorian Bronze and Enamel Box
Located in Queens, NY
French Victorian bronze and multicolored enamel cloisonne box with floral and scroll design with red velvet interior.
Category
Late 19th Century French Victorian Antique Decorative Boxes
Materials
Bronze, Enamel
Paul Evans Style Cityscape Mixed Metal Patchwork Chest
Located in Houston, TX
Paul Evans style cityscape mixed metal patchwork chest.
Handsome Paul Evans style cityscape mixed metal patchwork chest, box, coffer or document box. ...
Category
1970s North American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Decorative Boxes
Materials
Metal
Red Biedermeier Lidded Box in Overlay Glass
Located in Hamburg, DE
Immerse yourself in the elegance of the Biedermeier era with this exquisite lidded box made of overlay glass. This piece stands out due to its masterful ...
Category
1850s French Biedermeier Antique Decorative Boxes
Materials
Brass
Large 19th Century Continental Neoclassical Between Dresser Vanity Box
Located in Lambertville, NJ
An extensively filled 19th century ormolu-mounted ebonized wood dresser vanity box fitted with silver gold washed lidded glass gars and sewing tools. The ...
Category
1880s European Empire Antique Decorative Boxes
Materials
Ormolu
Italian Carved Round Green Onyx Marble Box with Gilded Lionfeet, 1950s
Located in Roma, IT
A box as precious as the jewels it could contain inside, hand carved in Italy with the highest quality onyx marble from Pakistan (as attested by the adhesive label still present).
Al...
Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Materials
Onyx, Metal
$465 Sale Price
20% Off
Hallmarked Silver Plated Keepsake Box, Sheffield, Uk, Circa 1900
Located in Colorado Springs, CO
Offered is a stunning Sheffield silver keepsake box dating to 1900, with associated hallmark. This small box includes a clean interior and rounded corners. The box is free of names or initials, but would have been used to house keepsakes such as jewelry or cufflinks. A well maintained, elegant piece, this antique silver box is an excellent addition to any silver collection.
Trinket or keepsake boxes have taken on many forms since their first conception in ancient times. However their purpose remains the same; to store jewelry and other items precious to the owner. Originally, these boxes were used specifically for jewelry. These were in common use as early as 5000 BC in Ancient Egypt, when the majority of Egyptians, both male and female, wore jewelry. Boxes were used to keep these gemstone encrusted items safe. In Ancient Rome, jewelry was a status symbol. Rings and brooches were utilized to represent ones status in society. Again, boxes were needed for security and storage purposes. Finding early examples of these are quite rare.
Victorian and Edwardian examples of trinket boxes are far more common. This is because owning jewellery was a luxury until the Victorian era- let alone possessing so much a box was needed to store it all. Fine jewelry and other items became available to the masses after the industrial revolution due to the reduction in production costs. This led to a demand for trinket boxes, which were much smaller than jewelry boxes and therefore better suited to the needs of the middle class who did not yet possess an abundance of jewelry.
In Victorian households, collectables and other items of interested were also stashed inside these boxes. This is why they are known as trinket or keepsake boxes, rather than just jewelry boxes, although of course jewelry was also stored in them. Trinket boxes were produced in large numbers around this time. Many were lined with colored plush or velvet or rich wood. More elaborate designs had interior divisions and trays for rings and other pieces of jewellery. It was also common to see trinket boxes so small that they could only contain one item, such as a single ring. Ornate exteriors were created to reflect the value of the trinket boxes contents.
The Edwardian era saw the introduction of new styles of trinket box. These included small circular or oblong boxes...
Category
Early 1900s British Art Deco Antique Decorative Boxes
Materials
Silver
Leo Sewell Trash/Waste Can
By Leo Sewell
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Leo Sewell Trash Can.
Made of an accumulation of found objects
Signed and Dated on the bottom.
Category
1980s American Vintage Decorative Boxes
Materials
Plastic
A Japanese Edo Period Lacquer Kogo (Incense) Box, late 17/early 18th Century
Located in Spencertown, NY
Early Japanese Lacquer Incense Box (Kogo) Late 17thc. Of rectangular form with soft corners, decorated with a diaper pattern in gold lacquer on a brownish black ground, with pewter r...
Category
17th Century Japanese Edo Antique Decorative Boxes
Materials
Pewter
Maitland Smith Tessellated Stone Box
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Maitland Smith tessellated stone large decorative box.
Category
1980s Philippine Hollywood Regency Vintage Decorative Boxes
Materials
Stone
Hand painted "Apple" jar by Josef Frank for Svenskt tenn
Located in Hägersten, SE
Rare lidded jar in the shape of an apple designed by Josef Frank. Produced by Firma Svenskt Tenn during the 1950s. Made from Aluminum with hand painted decor. Very good vintage condi...
Category
1950s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Decorative Boxes
Materials
Aluminum
19th Century French Bronze Metal Overlayed Vanity Powder/Jewelry Glass Jar/Box
Located in Guaynabo, PR
This is a French bronze metal overlayed round glass hand painted vanity/powder jar. The glass jar is decorated with a pattern of pierced columns of flowers alternated with engraved l...
Category
19th Century French Belle Époque Antique Decorative Boxes
Materials
Bronze
$440 Sale Price
20% Off
Rare Regency Memento Mori Box
Located in Kittery Point, ME
Decorated with four skulls to top with titles of a Witch, King, Beauty and Beggar to each Skull underneath. Lidded.
Category
19th Century English Regency Antique Decorative Boxes
Design box, smoking, 925 Sterling silver enamel painting, Ottaviani, 1960s Italy
By Ottaviani
Located in Wien, AT
Spectacular craftsmanship! This impressive box was designed by the renowned Italian designer Ottaviani and manufactured in Italy in the 1960s.
The body is made of walnut wood, cover...
Category
1960s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Decorative Boxes
Materials
Sterling Silver, Enamel
Petite Ming Shipwreck Box, c. 1500
Located in Chicago, IL
The soft, matte texture and eroded wear of this petite porcelain box suggest it spent many years submerged in saltwater, likely excavated from a sunken trade ship carrying ceramic ex...
Category
16th Century Chinese Ming Antique Decorative Boxes
Materials
Porcelain
18th century Chinese hard wood coffer chest
Located in Debenham, Suffolk
Rare 18th century perhaps earlier hard wood coffer, circa 1790.
Presented in original un-restored condition. Original handles and metal work to outer edges.
Lid opens on ringed ha...
Category
Late 18th Century Chinese Qing Antique Decorative Boxes
Materials
Hardwood
Anglo Indian Tortoise and Bone Box
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Impressive Anglo Indian box crafted in mahogany and clad in tortoise shell decorated with bone straps, carved and painted floral panels, and paw feet. The inside has a mirror and bon...
Category
Early 20th Century Indian Anglo-Indian Decorative Boxes
Materials
Bone, Tortoise Shell
Hand Blown Murano Glass Box M in Leopard with Brass Fittings
Located in West Hollywood, CA
This avant-garde adornment is a unique and eye-catching piece that combines the rich tradition of Murano glassmaking with a contemporary and fashionable design. Handcrafted on the hi...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Decorative Boxes
Materials
Brass
Mughal Indian Polished Brass Pierced Incense Box
By Rajhastani
Located in Moreno Valley, CA
Beautiful hand-crafted polished brass footed box with with lid, latch and handle intricately hand-hammered with geometric designs and pierced with holes.
Vintage pierced decorative Mughal Indian style brass box from India...
Category
Mid-20th Century Indian Agra Decorative Boxes
Materials
Brass
Pollock Inspired Drip painted Folk Art Box with Lid
Located in Palm Springs, CA
A nice folk art hand made and hand painted homage to Jackson Pollock in a drop style. It is monogrammed TJ on the interior lid.
In good overall condition with minor imperfections
Category
20th Century American Decorative Boxes
Materials
Wood, Paint
Aldo Londi Box, Mondrian, Ceramic, Blue, Green, Black, Signed, Rosenthal Netter
Located in New York, NY
Aldo Londi Box, Mondrian, Ceramic, Blue, Green, Signed, Rosenthal Netter. Small scale lidded box glazed in Navy blue and Kelly green and outlined in matte black. The bottom is glazed...
Category
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Decorative Boxes
Materials
Ceramic
$2,450 Sale Price
30% Off
Table Box Enamel on Guilloche and Hand Painted Miniature Sterling Silver Salimb
Located in Firenze, FI
Rectangular box with inward corners in sterling silver 925/1000 gold plated with beautiful miniature fire enameled and hand painted by the painter Beatrice Mellana depicting the painting "The Turkish slave" by Francesco Mazzola known as "il Parmigianino" (National Gallery of Parma). Dimensions cm. 8.5 x 11.5 x 3. Weight gr. 345. Designed by Franco Salimbeni in 1965 and manufactured in Florence in numerous specimens with various different subjects, in the headquarters of the Salimbeni company with completely manual execution by artisan artists with thick slab and large reinforcements suitable for withstanding numerous high-fire enameled firings at about 800° C.
Miniature is a very ancient technique which consists of painting works in small proportions.
It was born for the decoration of the first letter of the paragraph of the books.
Over the years, however, this technique is refined and enriched, then moving on to precious personal items.
Hand-painted miniatures can be done with multiple different techniques.
The most important that we use on our articles are of three kinds:
1) Fire enamel.
2) Water tempera on an ivory plate.
3) Painted on mother-of-pearl.
Fire enameled miniatures:
On a first layer of enamel generally white or very clear or even transparent suitably liquefied at a temperature of about 750 ° C, the chosen subject is painted using miniature colors which are as many colored crystals, ground and reduced to a very fine, almost impalpable powder washed and purified in distilled water with the addition of small quantities of deoxidizing acids which, diluted with essential oils (usually essential oil of solder), can be mixed to form a palette of colors.
With very fine sable hair brushes you draw the subject starting from the perimeter and then gradually adding various layers of color.
It is necessary to carry out various firings very often so that the colors harden and are not absorbed by the underlying glaze as, during the subsequent firings at 750 ° C, during liquefaction, it would spread irremediably. Hence the need to form the painting a little at a time, cooking it numerous times.
Therefore it is necessary to proceed with numerous retouching, often overlapping different colors that only the painter's experience knows. A beautiful miniature needs from 20 to over 50 firings and is finished when the painter deems he does not have to further intervene.
Some colors must have darker tones than others because then, by superimposing the transparent enamel placed at the end of the miniature, they fade. This transparent layer, called “fondant” in jargon, must be smoothed and polished like all other translucent enamel colors.
The miniatures with water tempera colors are painted on real ivory...
Category
1960s Italian Baroque Vintage Decorative Boxes
Materials
Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
Early 19th Century Regency Mother of Pearl Inlaid Tea Caddy of Sarcophagus Form
Located in Long Island City, NY
The body and hinged lid with mother of pearl and brass-line inlay. The fitted interior is lined with purple velvet. With a brass escutcheon and bun foot.
Category
1820s Irish Regency Antique Decorative Boxes
Materials
Brass
Antique, New and Vintage Decorative Boxes
Antique, vintage and new decorative boxes will safely store items while adding a splash of color or texture to a corner in any room. They have had a range of purposes over the years — from trinkets to serving as useful receptacles, such as snuff boxes, jewelry boxes and more. Boxes have also been designed in a range of forms and styles.
Box making is a craft dating back thousands of years. Early boxes as decorative objects were regularly designed and decorated both inside and out, ranging from minimal looks to more flashy styles. Decorative boxes have been constructed from different materials, with wood and metal being the most common. Wood is widely available and versatile, with woodworkers able to carve complex designs or showcase its natural grain.
Some antique jewelry boxes were made with tortoiseshell, mother-of-pearl, ivory and even porcupine quills, such as those created by the Anishinabe in Canada and the United States. In Sri Lanka, well-crafted boxes were inlaid with porcupine quills and ivory discs between ebony bands. Chinese sewing boxes and tea boxes made of black lacquer were popular in Europe during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. These often featured gold-painted designs or landscape scenes. Silk, paper and velvet frequently enhanced these boxes’ interiors.
Any style of decorative box can be a nice tabletop or desktop decor, whether to hold candy or tea in the living room or paper, pencils and other business supplies in the office. They can also act as jewelry boxes. Sewing boxes can be a lovely touch to any space while storing magazines or other trinkets.
You can find metal, wood and silver antique boxes on 1stDibs. The collection includes mid-century modern, Victorian and Art Deco styles that can add elegance to any home.