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Small box in shagreen * and gilded brass, on four small round bone feet (beef), XIXth century.
This box is in its own juice.
A note: some accidents and wear on the shagreen, tiny shocks on the brass, wear of time, take a good look at the photos.
Cartilaginous fish leather (skate or shark) used for a long time in cabinetmaking, sheathing, and more recently in leatherwork. Halfway between leather and mineral, shagreen is covered with silica pearls, which makes it difficult to tan. It has different aspects: grainy and shiny, or sanded: in this case it is smooth and reveals a partitioned surface of small cells. There are 2 types of shagreen: small-grained shagreen and coarse-grained shagreen. The origin of the word “shagreen” dates back, in fact, to the 18th century. It is the name of the first craftsman who, in the West, knew how to work the leather of dogfish and ray. Jean-Claude Galluchat (with two "l") was a master sheath holder of King Louis XV ... or rather of the Marquise de Pompadour. This craftsman made so much reference to his time by dressing the rarest objects (chests, trunks, sword handles, etc.) with this fish skin that the proper name became synonymous with the material. Forgotten in the 19th century, shagreen resurfaced in the decorative arts in 1920, highlighted on furniture signed by great "Art Deco" designers such as Paul Iribe, André Groult or Jules Leleu.
