Jean SOULAT MARINE TORTOISE SHELL HANDICRAFT ON THE LOUVRE SITE (COUR NAPOLEON) DURING THE 17th AND 18th CENTURIES: Evidence of the Exoticism of the Lesser Antilles

Abstract

Excavations between 1981 and 1986 in the Cour Napoleon of the Louvre produced 175 fragments of worked or unworked marine tortoise shell. The finds came from 17th century aristocratic houses such as the Hôtel de Beringhem but also from a workshop, destroyed by fire in 1720, belonging to André-Charles Boulle, cabinet-maker to Louis XIV. Various tortoise-shell objects can be identified: combs, fan-sticks, bracelet, mirror framing or small strips for furniture marquetry. They are made from the shells of marine tortoises brought from the Lesser Antilles to France through colonial trade.

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