FRENCH PRISONER OF WAR BONE SANDGLASS

FRENCH PRISONER OF WAR BONE SANDGLASS

Exquisitely made bone sand timer with many decorations.
Executed on spherical legs with tree very beautiful cutaway pillars, and handsome elaborations
on both undersides.
Provenance;
Made in England during the Napoleonic War of 1792-1815 by French prisoners-of-war.
England was nearly bankrupt because of the war, and allowed prisoners to make objects they
could sell or trade on the weekly markets.
In this way prisoners could provide themselves with i.e. tobacco and clothes.
The most well-known objects of bone were: ship’s models, spinning Jenny’s, and boxes
clothed with straw works.
The French were already very adept in the art of ivory cutting way before the Napoleonic War.
During their imprisonment they worked with bone because there was no ivory.
In the prisons and aboard the prison ships – ‘Prison Hulks’ – the bone was submerged
in peroxide to whiten it, so it looked like ivory.
Running time 3 minutes
Height 10 cm (4 inches)

SOLD