Louis XVI period pen holder

This exceptional late 18th-century pen holder is made of yellow and green gold and midnight-blue lacquer. At each end, a small gold fitting, chased with a frieze of leaves and a braided motif, holds a pen on one side and a small graphite pencil on the other. The central midnight-blue, or possibly black, section is scattered with stars. In excellent state of preservation, this object has retained its shagreen case.

It bears 18th-century hallmarks, which we have not been able to decipher. A very similar example, though without its case, is preserved in the Louvre Museum by the Department of Decorative Arts of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Modern Period, under inventory number OA 2372.

One small star is missing.
Case dimensions: 13.8 cm
Pen holder dimensions when closed: 13.2 cm
Gross weight of the pen holder: 25.90 g