A RESTAURATION GOLD PICQUE AND IVORY WORK-BOX

THE PROPERTY OF A EUROPEAN NOBLEMAN

Details

A RESTAURATION GOLD PICQUE AND IVORY WORK-BOX

Of rectangular form, the gold-studded basket-weave rectangular box enclosing a blue silk-velvet lined interior within an ivory border inlaid with foliate sprays, the reverse of the top with a fall-front enclosing a part leather-lined folio-pocket, the removable tray with a central compartment enclosing two pairs of scissors, one associated and with gold studs, a needle-case, an ivory and a gold-mounted steel pick, six barrel-shaped spools, a measuring device, four cut-glass bottles with blue enamel and gold basket-weave tops, a needle-case in the form of a book and a pin-cushion in the form a jardinière, lacking thimbles, the lidded compartments with further wells beneath and with a large well beneath the removable tray, enclosing a wax paper thread-holder, with handwritten card cadeau de mariage de Louis-Philippe à la Duchesse de Berry 1816, a spindle and a pick lacking a fitted position
10 5/8in. (27cm.) wide; 3¾in. (9.5cm.) high; 7½in. (19cm.) deep

Provenance

Presented by Louis-Philippe de Bourbon, later King Louis-Philippe to the duc and duchesse de Berry on the occasion of their marriage in 1816
Through the second marriage of the duchesse de Berry to Count Lucchesi-Palli and thence by direct descent

Lot Essay

In 1816, Charles Ferdinand, duc de Berry (1778-1820), the younger son of Charles X, married Caroline Ferdinande Louise (1798-1870), eldest daughter of King Francis I of Naples. The duc had served in Condé's army from 1792 to 1797, before joining the Russian army. He settled in England in 1801, where he remained for 13 years. Upon his return to France and after the anullment of his marriage to Anna Brown, an Englishwoman, for political reasons, he became commander-in-chief of the army at Paris on the return of Napoléon from Elba. Seven months before the birth of their only son in 1820, he was assasinated. When Charles X was overthrown in the revolution of 1830, the duchesse was compelled to flee with him to Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh. In her attempts to secure the throne for her son she was briefly imprisoned but released upon the announcement of her marriage to the Italian nobleman Count Lucchesi-Palli (1805-1864). When released she joined her husband in Sicily to live in retirement

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