TRUMAN CAPOTE'S THREE BRASS TURTLES, TWO BEING BOXES
Three cast brass tortoises, two of them small covered boxes. The largest has a deeply incised carapace that lifts off whole to reveal a shallow brass-lined well, the head, tail and four feet cast with the base. The second is a smaller box of the same idea, the shell plainer and more lightly engraved, its well correspondingly shallower. The third is solid, smaller again, the shell modeled with a knobbly raised pattern and the legs drawn in. All three are unmarked.
Condition: all sound. The two boxes with their covers present and seating properly, the interiors bright where the lids have protected them. Mellow brown surface to the outsides with rubbing to the high points of the shells and the tops of the heads, darker residue in the engraved lines and light scratching throughout. No splits, breaks or repairs found.
Approx. Dimensions: the largest 6 " x 3 " x 1.5 " high
Artist or Maker: Unknown, unmarked
Provenance: Truman Capote; Gerald Clarke, his biographer
This lot is part of The Magpie and the Swans: The Possessions of Truman Capote, collected over a lifetime between New York and Sagaponack, and preserved since 1984 by his biographer, Gerald Clarke.
Notes: Although care is taken to photograph and describe the item, absence of a condition report does not imply perfect condition. It is the responsibility of the buyer to verify the condition of the item, either in person or by requesting a condition report.
Appeal: brass turtles, brass tortoises, turtle boxes, trinket box, cast brass animals, animal figures, desk accessories, novelty brassware, decorative arts, sagaponack, truman capote
Three cast brass tortoises, two of them small covered boxes. The largest has a deeply incised carapace that lifts off whole to reveal a shallow brass-lined well, the head, tail and four feet cast with the base. The second is a smaller box of the same idea, the shell plainer and more lightly engraved, its well correspondingly shallower. The third is solid, smaller again, the shell modeled with a knobbly raised pattern and the legs drawn in. All three are unmarked.
Condition: all sound. The two boxes with their covers present and seating properly, the interiors bright where the lids have protected them. Mellow brown surface to the outsides with rubbing to the high points of the shells and the tops of the heads, darker residue in the engraved lines and light scratching throughout. No splits, breaks or repairs found.
Approx. Dimensions: the largest 6 " x 3 " x 1.5 " high
Artist or Maker: Unknown, unmarked
Provenance: Truman Capote; Gerald Clarke, his biographer
This lot is part of The Magpie and the Swans: The Possessions of Truman Capote, collected over a lifetime between New York and Sagaponack, and preserved since 1984 by his biographer, Gerald Clarke.
Notes: Although care is taken to photograph and describe the item, absence of a condition report does not imply perfect condition. It is the responsibility of the buyer to verify the condition of the item, either in person or by requesting a condition report.
Appeal: brass turtles, brass tortoises, turtle boxes, trinket box, cast brass animals, animal figures, desk accessories, novelty brassware, decorative arts, sagaponack, truman capote
