Miniature Chinese Herb/Medicinal Fitted Case with Two Glass Bottles

another piece from my personal collection. wonderful handmade cigarette case from china. made by an unknown artist and retailed by the company woshing / shanghai. the stamp dates the...

Chinese export silver cigarette case, ca 1910. Curved and rectangular with push tab. On cover engraved tail-chasing dragon—all talons and horns and scaly serpentine body. Back plain....

An exceptional, fine and impressive antique Chinese Export Silver cigar case; part of our diverse Asian silverware collection This exceptional antique Chinese Export Silver (CES) ci...

Briefcase with miniature music box _ a one-of-a-kind Document Case Designed and created by the world acclaimed artisans of Boucher & Co Australia...

Chinese export silver card case, ca 1910. Rectangular. Chased ornament on stippled ground. On recto, a blossoming prunus branch with armorial cartouche (vacant). On verso, a fanged a...

A treasure of a chest, this charming miniature cabinet is named for the narrow, rounded molding that surrounds the frame and resembles noodles. Lacquered rich red, the small cabinet exhibits the same high level of craftsmanship found in larger such cabinets made in the Qing dynasty with exquisitely painted floral decorations and handcrafted hardware. The cabinet opens to a single shelf, making it just the place to stow jewelry...

From the Grand Tour era, a set of two glass scent bottles in a fitted leather case with key, circa early 19th Century. The Grand Tour was a 17th to early 19th century custom of the ...

Chinese export silver card case, ca 1910. Rectangular with hinged push-button cover. Chased ornament on stippled ground. On recto, a blossoming prunus branch and birds with armorial ...

Rectangular table cigarette case with rounded corners in sterling silver 925/1000 gold plated with beautiful miniature fire enamelled and hand painted by the painter Beatrice Mellana reproducing a "still life" by the Flemish painter Willem Claes Heda. Dimensions cm. 5.7 x 9 x 1.7. Weight gr. 174. Designed by Franco Salimbeni in 1969 and manufactured in Florence in numerous 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...

Rectangular table cigarette box in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with slightly rounded lid with perforation and fine hand engravings. In the center, a beautiful rectangular mi...