- Museum number
- C925
- Object
- Perfume bottle and case, English or French, glass, gold, enamel, shagreen, about 1770
- Description
- Scent bottle in case. Rectangular gold box with hinged lid enclosing a glass bottle with faceted flat stopper; tapering shape. Enamelled with vertial blue, green and white stripe and panels of grisaille ........ and female busts against a brown ground. Matching stopper over scent bottle, matching shagreen-covered box of similar shape, with pink velvet lining.Condition: scent bottle neck chipped , enamel flaked on box-side1887 Holburne Catalogue - "An elegant gold-enamelled Smellling Bottle, painted with portraits and vases, in a case. Franch 17th cent"
- Materials
- Gold
- On display?
- Yes
Further description
- Simple name
- Container
- Dimensions
- regular: 14.0cm (h) x 29.0cm (w)
Perfume bottle and case
English or French
Glass, gold, enamel, shagreen case, about 1770
C925
Smallness appeals through intricacy and craftsmanship. This exquisite cut-glass scent bottle sits within an enamelled gold sleeve that is itself protected by a finely-made fish skin case. If you pull out the stopper you can still smell attar of roses, an expensive eighteenth-century perfume.
Portable objects for personal use are often beautifully made and decorated. As well as being useful they can delight the owner and impress onlookers. In the eighteenth century exquisite and often eye-wateringly expensive personal accessories became essential indicators of a person’s rank and taste.
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