Antique French Pietra Dura & Bronze Jewelry Casket, Box, Painted Marble shoes Mary praying at the tomb

Mary praying at the tomb of Jesus

with a fine French sterling silver collar (Minerve marks) and a green underglaze maker mark noting "J

This one even has a working lock with skeleton key

and corresponding to it on the frontside of painting

Antique French Pietra Dura & Bronze Jewelry Casket, Box, Painted Marble shoes Mary praying at the tombA rather unusual presentation for a heavy marble casket, since we usually think of pietra dura caskets of marble marquetry like those done in Italy. But this is heavy slab marble set into a generous framework of bronze or brass bronze alloy, yet the panels have been deeply incised and then painted in the recesses. It is a rather unique handling I have not run across before this one. It's a real beauty, however, and is large in scale like the large