Vintage French Guilloché Enamel Vanity Compact, Amber-Orange Translucent Enamel, Engine-Turned Base, Mirror Interior, Maker GP Pine Tree, French Gilt Mark 181

French gilt. Amber enamel over an engine-turned ground. The colour is still burning.

A vintage French guilloché enamel vanity compact: a circular box in gold-tone gilt brass with a domed lid faced entirely in translucent amber-orange enamel over an engine-turned sunburst ground. Guilloché enamel is the technique of applying translucent enamel over a mechanically engine-turned metal surface: the turning creates a precise geometric pattern beneath the enamel, visible through the translucent glass-like layer above, giving the piece its characteristic depth and shimmer. The enamel here is a deep saturated amber-orange, completely even across the full lid face, the sunburst engine-turned pattern radiating clearly beneath it with a small raised boss at the centre point. The colour is exceptional and fully intact.

The exterior base is engine-turned in a concentric ripple or wavy line pattern with a raised central boss, plain gilt metal, no enamel. The interior lid carries a circular mirror with light age-related foxing or spotting, present and intact. The interior base is plain gilt metal with light surface wear consistent with use. The compact opens on a neat barrel hinge and closes with a push-snap mechanism.

Note: a very small surface inclusion or bubble is visible near the lower edge of the enamel face in the macro photograph. The interior mirror shows light vintage foxing. Please review all photos carefully before purchasing.

The piece is marked to the interior base with two stamps: the French gilt guarantee mark 181, confirming Grade 1 regulated heavy gilding over base metal to French standards; and a maker's cartouche of GP within a pine tree symbol, the standard French workshop mark format. The maker behind the GP mark has not been further identified and is listed here only as marked.

The Particulars:

• Type: Vanity compact; not a pill box
• Material: Gilt brass; French Grade 1 heavy gilding over engine-turned base metal body
• Decoration: Translucent amber-orange guilloché enamel to lid over engine-turned sunburst ground; concentric ripple engine-turning to base
• Interior: Circular mirror to lid interior (light foxing); plain gilt base interior
• Marks: French gilt guarantee mark 181 (Grade 1 gilding); maker's cartouche GP within pine tree symbol
• Mechanism: Barrel hinge; push-snap closure
• Condition: Good to very good. Enamel vivid and intact; minor surface inclusion near lower edge disclosed; mirror present with light foxing; hinge and snap functional. Please review all photos carefully before purchasing.
• Origin: French
• Maker: GP (pine tree cartouche); unattributed beyond the mark

Someone in France made this to be carried in an evening bag. The enamel has not dimmed. It is ready to be carried again.

Arrives tucked inside its own treasure coffin and carefully wrapped as a vault relic.