France, 19th century
Jewelry box
Ebonized wood, ivory and stones, cm height 13 x 35.5 x 29
The box in question, with its elegant and refined design, was a jewelry box of the highest quality and technical skill, very popular in the 19th century among French noblewomen. Rectangular in shape, the box is made almost entirely of ebonized wood, with very fine stylized ivory inlays on the surface, depicting griffins, naturalistic branches and masks. The jewelry box is further embellished by the insertion of stones of different shapes and colors, which enrich it and make it more chromatically varied. Equipped with a lid that opens thanks to a hidden hinge mechanism, the box is internally divided into compartments, which have the function of containing and differentiating the jewels that were placed in it and facilitating their recovery during grooming; it also has a mirror that allowed one to admire oneself in the meantime.
Jewels, practically disappeared during the years of the French Revolution, when prudence suggested concealing any luxury, reappeared in all their splendor with the advent of Napoleon: it will in fact be the future emperor of France, a great lover of unbridled pomp, and his wife, Josephine Beauharnais, who will dictate the laws of a new, opulent court fashion, making necessary the creation of exquisite jewelry boxes of the highest aesthetic and artistic value.
Even today, these boxes are not limited to their practical function as containers, but also serve as valuable decorative furnishings to be placed inside living spaces. The inclusion of ivory inlays, a material that symbolizes refinement and craftsmanship, in fact made the object intended for the wealthiest social classes, who could afford this type of expensive workmanship in addition to the personalization of the box.
