Beautiful Antique Jewelry Box in Modernist Style and Marquetry. France, Circa 1900

This striking piece is a luxury jewel box made in France in the early 20th century (circa 1900) and in impressive condition. The box is made of solid wood and is outside decorated with different wood veneers that create wonderful marquetry motives. The predominant species are ebony and blur wood: the combination of colors and textures is great. The jewel is clearly inspired in the art noveau style that became fashionable in turn-of-the-century arts and crafts. This item is composed of a box located at the base with two identical smaller boxes on top of it, one at each side. These top boxes can be moved to let the user reach the lower boxs contents. The set is protected by a top cover that preserves the original lock. The jewel box looks amazingly beautiful: it keeps all the marquetry pieces and shows no signs of wear. The French-polish finish has been carefully restored in order to enhance the gorgeous design. The marquetry work that covers the jewel box outside shows different scenes, motives and fringe, all of them incredible good-looking. The cover shows a scene with two little boys (an angel and a peasant) and a goat loaded with vegetables. The rest of the box is decorated with symmetrical motives depicting mythological animals and birds with wavy vegetal-inspired and abstract fringes. Inside, the boxes are lined with delicate red velvet in very good condition. The covers inner side is lined with ebony veneer and has an oval mirror in the center. Extremely beautiful and quite ancient, this art noveau jewel box will shine in an elegant ladys boudoir. Measurements: Width: 9.8 in / 25.5 cm. Height: 4.1 in / 10.5 cm.