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Artwork Page for Perfume Case (Etui flaconnier)

Details / Information for Perfume Case (Etui flaconnier)

Perfume Case (Etui flaconnier)

c. 1780
painted wood with gilt metal mounts, tortoiseshell
Overall: 12.6 x 2.6 cm (4 15/16 x 1 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade 1916.324
Location: not on view
Public Domain
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Did You Know?

Perfume was an important part of the French toilette, a lengthy ritual of washing and dressing practiced by members of the French social elite.

Description

Resting inside this case is a small octagonal crystal flask that would have held perfume. The painted miniatures are decorated with vernis martin, a popular varnish that imitated East Asian true lacquer. These scenes of rural merriment were often miniature reproductions of well-respected artists of the period. The depiction of three children and a dog on the lower portion of the case was drawn from Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s The Happy Family (L’heureuse fécondité) (1777).
Perfume Case (Etui flaconnier)

Perfume Case (Etui flaconnier)

c. 1780

France, 18th century

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