BY STEPHANY AND DRESCH, LATE 18TH CENTURY

The present lot is an example of the delicate, intricate 'micro carving' that was popular within the Kunstkammer of Europe's nobility in the 18th and 19th centuries. The carvings are executed with such precision that, with pieces of the highest quality, the distance between the leaves of a tree might be no more than a fraction of a millimeter. G. Stephany and J. Dresch worked in London and Bath in the late 18th century, selling their ivories to members of fashionable English society. They exhibited a number of times at the Royal Academy, and were granted the title 'Sculptors in Miniature on Ivory to their Majesties' by George III. The present relief includes a rotting oak tree, a favourite motif of Stephnay and Dresch.