Painted morocco binding

Green morocco binding from the last quarter of the 18th century with rich gold embossing on the spine and both covers, silver embossing on the standing and inner edges, and gilt edges with some hallmarking. Floral forms and scrollwork on the covers are mosaically painted in red, blue, and silver bronze. Very fine, rich, and originally decorated German binding in excellent condition. The covers each with a wide lace border of floral elements and rocailles with cradle foot ornaments in the corners and a large ornamental centerpiece with scrollwork, flowers, and an octagonal field in the center imitating a cut and set gemstone. The majority of the forms formed by the gold embossing are painted. The inner lid is covered with three-coloured calico paper. The colours were slightly rubbed in places, silver embossing of the standing and inner edges oxidized. Contents: Handwritten prayer book with devotional exercises. Written in small, even, and legible German cursive of the time in brown ink. The entire text is bordered by a simple line. 84 nn. (incl. 22 blank) fol. Slightly browned and hardly spotted. A few fol. with thin spots due to paper faults, 3 fol. with larger tear out with the loss of text. – Provenance: From the library of the Belgian bibliophile and former president of the Societé de Bibliophiles de Belgique Hector de Backer (Catalogue Leclerc & Giraud-Badin, Tl. 2 (1927), No. 2).