Bois Durci Plaque of Giuseppe Garibaldi

This Bois durci plaque depicts Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-82), who is well known as a general, a revolutionary and one of the founders of modern Italy. It is from a series of ornamental plaques depicting well known figures from royalty, politics and the arts. Bois Durci (a literal translation is "hardened wood") was patented in Paris in 1856 by Francois Lepage and was achieved by mixing a very fine sawdust, usually ebony or rosewood, with albumen-the sticky substance found in blood or eggs- and combining the two in a steel mould under heat and pressure. On the reverse of this plaque is the moulded name Bois Durci, and on the front, just below Garibaldi, is a small, moulded bird's wing which is another identifying feature.