Ancient miniature painting on signed ivory

"my name is mathilde and I have just celebrated my 14th birthday. My life is made up of little things. I'm an only child. My mother wears her fingers on sewing books and my father has joined the stars for a long time. We live in a maid's room under the roofs of a parisian building. I haven't been to school for two years, I have to help mom sew. Outside, the world is restless and teeming and as soon as I have a moment of my own, I stand at the window and I draw paris that is agitated, runs in all directions, lives too hard and too fast... My leaves are blackened and so are my fingers. And I love it! At night, I try to find sleep and wonder about my tomorrows and I am lost. What future for a seamstress's daughter And then came that day. I'm on my way home, i've been delivering tablecloths made by my mother. There, on the banks of the seine, a man calls me. He sits, he has a whole artist's paraphernalia, canvases, brushes and a rainbow of paint tubes. He tells me that he wants to give me the portrait, that I have a pretty face, that he hasn't seen anything so sweet for a long time... I'm blushing. I'm sitting down. And while painting, he tells me about his life. Hectic, exciting, romantic. I'm not moving, i'm not saying anything. But all these words resonate so strongly in me, they make me waver, lose my balance. I feel a world that opens up to me. I feel my heart vibrate. Now I know what I want to do with my life. Yes, i'll be an artist! Yes, I want to capture life with my pencils and brushes, every day, all the time! My fingers are already burning with impatience... And when this artist from the quai de seine gives me my portrait, I know that this little girl is already gone." Ancient miniature painting on ivory signed in the middle right (unreadable signature), in very good condition, bronze frame and burgundy velvet. At the back, a "ch - pure ivory guaranteed" sticker.

Ref. : HSXQ1142