Neapolitan Louis XV mounted tortoiseshell casket

A rectangular casket with a saddle-shaped lid, executed entirely in tortoiseshell and richly decorated with highly refined gilt bronze openwork edges, corners and lock plate. The casket can be carried using a handle attached to the lid with handsome ornamentation.

The highly typical and pronounced gilt fittings clearly indicate this casket’s Neapolitan origin. The Neapolitan tortoiseshell movement reached its peak in the first half of the eighteenth century, thanks to the arrival of Charles of Bourbon, who played a key role in the promotion and development of tortoiseshell workshops. Neapolitan tartarugari were already renowned at the time for their perfection of piqué work, whereby tortoiseshell was very finely inlaid with mother-of-pearl, silver and gold. The most prominent workshop in the city was led by Giuseppe and Gennaro Sarao, father and son.