A pair of rare Italian tortoiseshell relief plaques

Both only slightly curved, carved in low-relief with half-figure depictions of the Virgin and Child and the penitent Mary Magdalene in a grotto.The composition of the Virgin and Child is based on that of Raphael's Madonna della Sedia, which was already housed in the paintings collection of the Palazzo Pitti in Florence in the early 18th century. These relatively large, straight-cut sea turtle shell panels were primarily carved in Italy, primarily Naples. An important tray and a large toilette box of tortoiseshell with fine silver and gold piqué inlays were sold in Lempertz auction 1019 on 15th November 2013. This lot contains materials which require a CITES licence for export outside of the EU contract countries. We would like to inform you that such licenses are usually not granted.