So many things little things to fall in love with--and my weakness for boxes of all sorts only seems to grow, all the better when they deliver a portrait, too! I've not seen another quite like this, with the portrait appearing to have been woven as a tapestry, though perhaps finely embroidered, as it has remained pretty much in tact while the the plum ground is pretty threadbare. I love the effects of time and wear, making our rather Mona Lisa-esque subject appear a bit more like Duchamp's L.H.O.O.Q, with what looks perhaps like a small stain giving her the intimation of a mustache! And then a mirror on the interior of the lid, making me presume this was a powder box, and creating a nice dynamic between rendered portrait on one side and reflected (self) portrait on the inverse. 19th c. for sure, but it really feels like something of a surrealist object to me, and perhaps just the right thing to live within a Joseph Cornell sort of boxed construction!
1 15/16" in diameter x 15/16" t. Structurally sound and stable, and with the lovely metallic thread work on the sides in very good shape.
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