Elegant straw marquetry decorative lidded box, design attributed to Jean Michel Frank (1895 - 1941). The long rectangular shape has a refined geometric design and an interior in cork. There is no visible maker's mark. The box is unsigned but similar in size and pattern to Jean-Michel Frank boxes, including the ones pictured in the Jean-Michel Frank book (check the reference below for further reading). This is a rare collectible piece with lots of presence and elegance.
The original cork inside that was pretty damaged has been replaced by a similar natural cork material.
Reference: Léopold Diego Sanchez, "Jean-Michel Frank", Editions du regard, Paris, 1980. Similar marquetry boxes are on page 80.
Measurements: 6.88 in. long (17.5 cm) x 5.13 in. wide (13 cm) x 1.19 in. high (3 cm).
About:
Jean-Michel Frank (28 February 1895 – 8 March 1941) was a French interior designer known for minimalist interiors decorated with plain-lined but elegant furniture made of luxury materials, such as shagreen, mica, and intricate straw marquetry. He had an eye for exotic patterns, specifically in veneers, including snake and sharkskin. His work became widely known in the 1930s when select, higher classes demanded his furniture. He is known for being associated with the Art Deco movement.
Frank sought to design uncluttered spaces and feature neutral color schemes with exotic patterns. His idea of simplicity extended to everything up to his wardrobe, having owned forty of the same gray flannel shirts. Frank drew inspiration from Ancient Egypt, Louis XVI, and the Art Deco movement. 
"The noble frames that have come to us from the past can receive today's creations," Jean Michel Frank. During his career, Frank collaborated with designers and artists, such as Diego Giacometti, Salvador Dali, Emilio Terry, and Christian Berard.
In the 1920s, Frank and Adolphe Chanaux, a Parisian decorator, met and inaugurated a collaboration that launched them into the center of Parisian artistic life. Frank and Chanaux searched for balance and developed a classic expression of spaces. Together, they decorated apartments for Jean-Pierre Guerlain, Marie-Laure de Noailles, and Louis Aragon. In 1924, Jean Rene Guerrand appointed Frank to design a unique collection of pieces of furniture. Part of this collection was the sheepskin Club Chair and Parchment-Covered Dressing Table.
Reports from refugees about the persecution of homosexuals and Jews prompted Jean-Michel Frank to leave Paris in 1940. By way of Lisbon, he emigrated to Buenos Aires.
In Argentina, Jean-Michel Frank worked with his old friend and business associate, Ignacio Pirovano, for private and commercial projects. Alberto Giacometti collaborated with Frank to create terracotta objects like floor lamps, vases, candle holders, and table lamps.
Frank was troubled by loss, depression, drug addiction, homophobic taunts, and anti-Semitism all his life. On 8 March 1941, while in New York City, he committed suicide at 46. Despite claims that Frank died by throwing himself from the window of the Manhattan apartment he was staying in, he overdosed on barbiturates. Maarten van Buuren, Jean Michel Frank's biographer and a professor of modern literature at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, confirmed this when reading Frank's autopsy report and death certificate.
Today, leading world designers recognize Jean Michel Frank as one of the major sources of inspiration for many present-day designs. His works are highly sought after by leading collectors worldwide.
(Credit: Wikipedia).