Featured Antique Tortoise Shell Display Cabinet

Greetings
Found this at a local antique auction. It is a display cabinet with abundant tortoise shell (sea turtle) applied to it. Some of the shell was loose or falling off when I found it and I have stabilized it with fish glue. The shell is silvered on the back and there is hand laid paper backing it. It is real shell which I have confirmed with the hot pin test and comparison under a microscope with a borrowed authentic sample. The pigment is within the shell not painted and there is subtle grain in it.

Anyway. I have finished stabilizing it and I am very happy with the result. It appears to be a softer light wood with the back being a solid (cracked) 3/4" plank.

I assume it is European but I would like to know more about it. Anybody have any ideas??

Many Thanks
Rob

 

well it better stay local if that's Hawksbill shell....

 

It will be from a Hawksbill Turtle.
Here in the UK it's legal to buy and sell but I'm not sure about other countries.

 

Going to use it to display fossils?

 

I like it

 

Totally illegal in the US. to sell interstate or internationally. Individual states can have own laws concerning intrastate sales.

 

Ok thanks...

 

HOT PIN? Arg.

 

It is clearly antique. The shell is shrink cracked throughout and I have no intention of selling it or moving it across international borders. Here it is legal to possess if it is antique. Thought it was Faux when I bought it.

I am an environmentalist and I would never do anything to hurt turtles. I have a pet Tortoise BTW.

I tested a small piece that had chipped off when it was moved.

Not here to get a big debate going. Just want to know more about its origins.

Rob

 

Dear Rob :
Anything you post here, anytime you post here, we're all going to come looking !
What happens after that.....is no longer under your control....

We have our fair share of opinions.....all are welcomed.....& we never know which way a thread will roll !!

We help as best we can......

 

Ah, I'll forgive the pin, then.

 

We also often get going on the issue of ivory: genuine or fake; antique or modern. Don't think you'll find anyone here who does not care about elephants & sea turtles, but we also care about the preservation & enduring value of beautiful things that were made with these materials in earlier times. Any post involving either reanimates the conversation.

It's a lovely old piece I'm sure many of us envy. So far, the members who really know about furniture have not weighed in, perhaps because they thought from the title your concern was with its using tortoise. For them to tell you more I'm sure they are going to want better lit photos showing details of construction, including the back, undersides, anyplace parts are joined, any hardware used, the clues they need to age & origin.

What kind? I have a time share on the bath tub with a couple of semi-aquatics.

 

Have not weighed in on this since I know next to nothing about tortoise shell furniture. Would assume mid to late 19th century and European.

 

A very beautiful cabinet.

Totally agree.
Tortoiseshell veneer furniture was always made with real tortoiseshell, to my knowledge.
You can tell it is tortoiseshell from the layering of the spots, some are clearly in the top layer, others are in a lower layer and are faintly seen through the top one. Unlike stained horn or celluloid, where the fainter spots are part of the surface, just like the dark ones.
When tortoiseshell is chipped, you can also see that layering.
The wood is ebonized, blackened to make it look like precious ebony, but you probably already knew that.

Debates also help to get the thinking process going. And they contain information for others who read the thread to research their own furniture.

 

Hear, hear! Our debates & digressions very often produce knowledge it is good to have, even if not quite related to the item under discussion.

 

I appreciate all the comments. I know Tortoise Shell is a misnomer but I think that is how it was referred to back in the day.

Was looking for a cheap antique display cabinet for my office and thought I could handle the stabilization / restoration. I assumed it was not real until I got a good look at it at home.

I have taken a closer look at the construction and some of it looks to be flat head screwed together from below. Possibly last quarter of the 19th century?

It comes apart into two parts but the base has a complete ebonized top surface.

The back is solid plank (3/4") construction with a huge shrinkage crack up it. It is covered by original old black paper. The interior is gessoed then gilt and has hand punched / stamped patterns throughout. The original glass is wavy and has a few bubbles (one side was replaced).

Here are a couple close up more pictures including a couple from underneath. The first is of the door lock.

My buddy is a 10yr old Red Footed Tortoise who suffers with an Over Abundance of personality.

Cheers

 

How big? Free roaming? As long as he's not overabundant inside his shell!

 

About 10" and he is free roaming. Actually roaming around my feet right now.