Boulle Work Obling Book-Shaped Album Box

Vienna, 1830. Calf Spine. Boulle work onfront. Very Good Plus. Magnificent binding with intricate Boulle work, with metal, ivory and mother-of-pearl inlays on the front cover, and the rear dominated by wood inlays, which surround a centerpiece of Boulle work. These components are not just intricately shaped, but there are minute details embellishing them within. The ivory has a generous amount of penwork, a highlight of which are the two heads found adjacent to each of the short edges. And the metal pieces have incisions -- ruled lines on the brass, more Rococo type swirls on the other metal. Spine is calf, decorated with elaborate gilt swirls. Clasp of bronze also has ornate chasing. N.d., probably 1820s or 30s (Biedermeier period). Almost surely of Austrian make, and more specifically, from Vienna, although we can not prove that definitively. The box measures 35 by 26 cm, and it is 3.5 cm deep. A neat, elegant cursive ownership inscription on the inside front cover -- the name being Anne Evelyn Warrender. The interior has 18 loose blank sheets, which we assume are contemporary with the creation of the box. These are mostly a beige or off-white, but there are also pink, brown, blue/gray sheets, and these sheets are not all of a single thickness. Their edges are also gilded -- this would seem to corroborate that they are original to the box. This well has room easily for triple the number of sheets. We should think some of the sheets were used. In any case, there is room for someone to use the box for other things even without touching the sheets present. Those sheets can be easily lifted from the well of the box with a ribbon, obviously installed with the box. The box is lined with a white paper that has a floral design entirely in relief, and this too was obviously original to the box. The aesthetic is Rococo, in keeping with the seventeenth century pieces done by Boulle himself. We are not experts on this kind of object, nor are we certain of all the actual materials used. The wood on the back looks like a mahogany, both the lighter and brown traceries, but we can't rule out rosewood, and we note that the darker wood seems to have a zebra pattern in places and could be a walnut or maple, for all we know. We don't think the wood used is an important aspect of the piece. We can not make a specific pronouncement on the lighter silver-colored metal. It could be a low grade silver, a tin, or some other white metal In something not discernible from the photos, its surface has a rough foil feel, in contrast to the brass, even with its shallow diamond patterned grooves, feels smooth. All the metal pieces could benefit from a full polishing, and in our testing polish on them, they do clean very nicely. Since we don't trust our meticulousness in the very time consuming process of polishing, plus we can't anticipate the preference of the buyer -- some like the oxidized patina, others prefer something closer to the original brilliant patina -- we have chosen to leave well enough alone after doing a bit of polishing as a test. Evaluating the box as if it were a standard book or book adjacent object, and netting out the question of the metal patina, the box has wear that hovers between light and moderate but closer to light, in our view. There is some rubbing to the calf, and some of the gilt, such as on the ruled lines that border the front cover, have hints of crack lines and some schmutz which we are uncomfortable trying to eliminate. Best to consult our photos on these points.