Doe and Hope

Description

Of rectangular form, the French ebonised pine, brass and tooled leather travelling vanity mirror, the hinged lid opening to reveal a triptych of three mirror panels, two of which holding the original mercury glassed mirror plate, now distressed with age, the whole with patent mark for 26th September 1876 and ‘Brevete LB’ and surviving from nineteenth century Paris.

The condition is fair to good considering the age and the nature of the piece, which would have travelled considerably with its owner. Two of the mirror plates are original with spotting showing and the third is a later replacement. The hinges all operate as they should and it remains intact in all other areas with wear to the tooled leather and gilded brass as photographed.

Breveté SGDG, which we see marked to the clasp, was a French type of patent that ceased to exist in 1968. The name was a common abbreviation for "Breveté Sans Garantie Du Gouvernement“ (patent without government guarantees).

A beautiful yet functioning object that screams of old Paris.