English tortoiseshell beauty patch box

An image of Patch box. Objets de vertu. Unknown English maker. Heart-shaped, tortoise shell box with silver mounts and medallion of Charles II facing right, engraved to his left is 'C' beneath '2', and on his right is and 'R' beneath a crown. The tortoise shell was carved from a turtle shell, which was heated and pressed to form the lid and parts of the base, which were pinned together. The lid was set into the silver sides, and the hinge was pinned to the base and soldered and pinned to the lid. Height, whole box, 1 cm, length, whole box, 6.9 cm, width, whole box, 5.2 cm, 1660-1700. Notes: The box could have been made shortly after the death of Charles II in 1685.

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Patch box. Objets de vertu. Unknown English maker. Heart-shaped, tortoise shell box with silver mounts and medallion of Charles II facing right, engraved to his left is 'C' beneath '2', and on his right is and 'R' beneath a crown. The tortoise shell was carved from a turtle shell, which was heated and pressed to form the lid and parts of the base, which were pinned together. The lid was set into the silver sides, and the hinge was pinned to the base and soldered and pinned to the lid. Height, whole box, 1 cm, length, whole box, 6.9 cm, width, whole box, 5.2 cm, 1660-1700. Notes: The box could have been made shortly after the death of Charles II in 1685.

Image data

Accession Number: M.87-1961
Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Aperture: f/22.0
Focal length: 120
Camera: Hasselblad H3DII-31
Photographer name: Amy Jugg
Image height: 1024 pixels
Image width: 778 pixels
Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.6 (Macintosh)
Filesize: 111.58kB
Exposure time: 1/60
ISO Speed: 100
Fnumber: 22/1
Captured: 2014:03:28 16:18:36

Key words

17th Century Charles II Date Department English Fitz_AA Material Nationalities Object Type Other Keywords People Restoration Silver Stewart Period Stuart Period Workflow _WF_AdOK _WF_KWD _WF_OPACtd _WF_PCtd beauty beauty spot box carved container fashion fashionable heart shaped hearts hinged kings lidded medallion monarchs monarchy objet de vertu patch box receptacle royal royalty rulers tortoise-shell tortoiseshell turtle shell turtleshell

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            The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025)
            "English tortoiseshell beauty patch box "
            Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-187558 Accessed: 2025-12-05 21:52:17

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            {{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-187558
            |title=English tortoiseshell beauty patch box 
            |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-05 21:52:17|publisher=The
            University of Cambridge}}

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        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">English tortoiseshell beauty patch box </figcaption>
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