Decorative ornament

portrait painted of a man from the 19th century embedded in a large mother-of-pearl shell (type of nautilus or large marine bivalve shell). Characteristics of the object • Support: A large pearl shell or mother-of-pearl whose inner surface has been polished to receive the portrait. • Technique: A painted miniature (probably in oil or gouache) depicting a moustached and bearded man in bourgeois attire (vest and frock coat), typical of 19th-century fashion (Louis-Philippe era or Second Empire). • Genre: A curiosity object, folk art, or marine art (often made by sailors or in the colonial penal colonies of the time).

Estimate:£75.78

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