19th Century French Tortoiseshell Sewing Box W/mother-of-pearl Tools

Presenting a stunning French circa 1840’s tortoiseshell sewing box with a sterling silver name plaque on top with the name of “Mary L. Howland”, escutcheon with key and sits upon four bun feet. Tortoiseshell was primarily made from the shell of the Hawksbill turtle and is getting quite rare today since the sea turtle went on the critically endangered list. The fitted interior is further enhanced with ivory around the edges. The entire interior is covered in a light blue satin while the lid has a padded and ruffled edge. Some of the original tools are:

2 mother-of-pearl and ivory spools

gold thimble

mother-of-pearl knife with two blades, one small hairline crack on one side

gold handled scissors with steel blades

mother-of-pearl bodkin with a very rare gold embossed sheath

a scent bottle with a beautiful embossed gold top and cut rock crystal

Items added over time are:

Ivory tape measure, the tape is gone

Mother-of-pearl thread wax

Mother-of-pearl needle cleaner

2 mother-of-pearl silk thread winders

mother-of-pearl needle book with a floral incised picture

The three center tools lift out to reveal a compartment for storage of small items. A beautiful box that the owner must have treasured and been proud to use in a sewing group.

Condition: As mentioned above there is a crack on the knife, the front right corner has a chip of tortoiseshell missing seen in the second picture. There are very faint hairline cracks, you can feel them rather than see them, on the top that were more than likely caused by heat and dryness over the years, typical of tortoiseshell, otherwise in amazing clean condition.