Napoleon III Christening Cross

Exceptional object, I use this term rightly, the écotée baptismal crosses deserve all our attention: First the intention: it was necessary to protect oneself from many evils, to protect oneself against diseases, hence the écotée crosses, representing the tree of life, which are found here and there on calvaries for example in Brittany… Then the noble material that the ivory workers of Dieppe handled brilliantly… Nevertheless, the feat is remarkable, the work of the ivory is astonishing: imagine the sanding and polishing of the cross while leaving the raised spikes…. (extract from the French jewelry site on the net). We learn that the suspension rings of these cradle crosses were not provided as standard: The baptismal crosses in ivory or Galalith without a suspension ring are not necessarily incomplete: the ring was sold as an option and many preferred to do without it to hang the cross directly on a ribbon. The guardian angel is made of Galalith (or Erinoid in England), from the Greek word gala - milk - and lithos - stone, was one of the first plastics invented; it is composed of milk casein and formaldehyde.