Pair of Victorian Era French Gutta Percha Cabinet Card Frames, 2, 10.5" Tall
Offering this matching pair of c. 1870-80s French made gutta percha frames made for the old cabinet card photos of that period. Gutta percha was a very early cartable material of rather mysterious content. I've read it was super-fine sawdust in a suspension of proteins like casein and perhaps other blood products, as well. It was perhaps the world's first "plastic", and was moldable into the fine detail you see here, in a time when hand carved wood was both very popular and also expensive. The thrilling bas relief achieved with moulds was an early industrialized production method and you'll find objects and primarily early photograph cases and frames like these. We've had hand mirrors, desktop items and inkwells, and perpetual calendars, a cigar case or two and even a couple of barometer cases of this material over the years. These two frames, lovely as they are in an inventive 2-tone, are elegant remainders of the Napoleon III decorative era, and they will remain together in the sale.