Georgian silver and engraved mother-of-pearl toothpick case

Description

Georgian silver and engraved mother-of-pearl toothpick case. Item 4789.This lovely Georgian ladies toothpick case is an elongated oval in form known as a navette, and is made of a silver frame holding mother-of-pearl panels. The panels for the lid and the two sides are delicately engraved, with the top featuring a central shield flanked by flowers and foliage enclosed in two borders, the inner one a dentil border and the outer, a continuous line of dots. The dotted border is replicated on the two side panels where it encloses a geometric pattern. The shield would have provided the owner space to have her initials engraved. The mother of pearl base is undecorated. The length is 82 mm (3.25 inches), the width, including the hinge and the thumbpiece, is 21 mm (.75 of an inch) and it stands 12 mm (.5 of an inch) high. It is in very, very good condition and would date from around 1810.