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#6577
Palais Royal Workbox - This beautiful workbox was undoubtedly made in the Palais Royal district of Paris.
In the late 18th, early 19th century a man named Louie Philippe, the Duke of Orleans inherited the palace in
Paris. He turned one wing of the palace into a shoping arcade called the "Palais Royal". Only the finest
artisans in France were allowed to set up shop there and, of course, they catered to the wealthy aristocracy.
They made exquisite pieces using fragile mother of pearl. One of the signatures of the Palais Royal is the little blue enamel pansy that you see on the needlecase in this box.
The implements inside the box include: mother of pearl needlecase, stiletto with clenched hand, scissors,
thimble, tambour hook, 2 reels, 2 embroidered pincushions, cut crystal scent bottle, 3 silver topped bottles, 2
gilt topped bottles, and 2 silver perfume funnels. All of the pieces are original to the box, but they have some
damage. The blade of the stiletto is missing, the tambour hook case is loose in two places, the inside piece on
the needlecase is broken off, and the larger of the two funnels has the bottom piece broken off. One of the
two gilt topped bottles will not come out of the box and the handle on the outside of the box is broken off as
well. There is a music movement (and a key for it), but I can only get it to play random notes. In spite of the
damage to the implements, none of the damage actually shows when the pieces are displayed in the box. So, it is still a stunning display.
$3450.00
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