Ball Book Portrait Of Louis Antoine De Bourbon-condé, Duke Of Enghien And Bathilde Of Orléans

Tablet case or dance card in trapezoidal shape in orange-red composite material (pounded fish scales, binder and pigments) set in a finely chiseled gold mount. The lower part is decorated with two miniatures of great finesse of work on ivory: on one side, the portrait of a young man Louis Antoine de Bourbon-Condé, Duke of Enghien with powdered and tied hair wearing a red suit and blue waistcoat; on the other side, the portrait of a young elegant woman probably his mother Princess Bathilde d'Orléans This young woman wears a light dress with a low neckline and exposed shoulders. Her natural hair is tied up in a bun; roses and a headband adorn her hairstyle. These miniatures are framed by a gold mount chiseled with flower motifs. The upper part has on these two sides an inscription in openwork gold "souvenir d'amitiés". The case opens with a hinge and contains two ivory tablets connected by a gold rivet.
Princess Bathilde of Orléans was not on good terms with her Bourbon-Condé husband and the marriage was a failure. She threw her affection on her son born Louis Antoine de Bourbon-Condé, Duke of Enghien, the one who was shot by Napoleon in a moat of the Château de Vincennes. The young man in a powdered wig depicted on the back is indeed the Duke of Enghien painted by SCHILLY who can be found in the collections of Versailles. Presumably, the young lady depicted on the other side is not Charlotte de Rohan-Rochefort - the prince's love - since we are under Louis XVI (1780) but the prince's mother, Princess Bathilde, who was able to have this beautiful object made to offer it as a token of friendship.
Reworks of the composite material.
Later gold retest hallmarks.
Period: Late 18th century. Circa 1770-1780.
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