Artwork Page for Vanity Set (Nécessaire)

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Vanity Set (Nécessaire)

c. 1760

manner of James Barbot

(British)
Measurements
Overall: 5.5 x 4.5 x 3.9 cm (2 3/16 x 1 3/4 x 1 9/16 in.)
Credit Line
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

This small box with a mirror-lined lid is a dressing table accessory for travel that contains luxury objects such a clasp knife, tweezers, manicure set, and scent bottles.

Description

Luxurious personal objects were an essential part of a privileged wardrobe during the 1700s and early 1800s, emphasizing their owner’s refinement and wealth. Jewelry, miniatures, and nécessaires—small expensive sets designed to hold grooming, writing, and sewing tools—were often given as intimate gifts, intended to be seen and admired. Their glittering surfaces, however, disguised a system based on the labor and suffering of enslaved or indentured people, whether in gold and stone mines or shops where these goods were made.
A rectangular box features translucent agate panels in shades of orange, cream, and white. Ornate gold scrollwork with raised floral and leaf motifs frames each panel, dividing the piece into a lid and base. The top panel displays wavy orange bands, while the sides show concentric circular patterns. A small, circular gold knob sits at the center front, and the gold frames meet at the corners in scrolling, shell-like patterns.

Vanity Set (Nécessaire)

c. 1760

James Barbot

(British)
England, mid 18th century

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