Wings and Strings, Striking Art Deco Etched and Gilded Cigarette Case tiny dolls with the silver plate polishing

with the silver plate polishing up nicely

it is clear that a photographer's mat once overlaid this just framing the face and upper body of the child

and this black (in lieu of darker red and dark blue)

And with a really beautiful play of tones and textures

I believe this pencil and watercolor drawing was done in the late 1860s

Wings and Strings, Striking Art Deco Etched and Gilded Cigarette Case tiny dolls with the silver plate polishingNot exactly my usual thing, but I was completely seduced by this and could not walk away. It is a cigarette case, c. 1920s or so I believe, with a gold toned metal strap inside that is designed to be easily removed, such that it could certainly be used for other things. The material is some sort of hard plastic, celluloid or similar, but reads like etched glass, and for me this very much calls to mind verre eglomise patch and candy boxes of a century