Object Timeline
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1984 |
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2024 |
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Traveling Dressing Table Set (England)
This is a Traveling Dressing Table Set. It was silversmith Thomas Whitehouse and retailed by Asprey & Son Co.. It is dated 1875 and we acquired it in 1984. Its medium is coromandel-veneered joined wood, lined with silk, gilded and tooled calfskin leather, raised, chased and engraved silver, cut glass, mirrored glass, carved mother-of-pearl (handles), cut and engraved brass (hinges and tools), gilt-metal, forged steel (im. It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.
Unlike today, when air travel requires carry-on toiletry liquids to be in clear plastic bags and other containers, in the 19th century, this elegant dressing-table box would have held stylish and functional implements. The owner probably had someone to carry it for him or her, so considerations such as weight and sturdiness were not paramount. While both sexes availed themselves of such boxes, with minor variations of implements, this example appears more likely to have been a man’s. In 1870s London, a man might have had creams for his hair and wax for his moustache, colognes and manicure equipment, and buttonhooks and other items needed for dressing. The leisure classes were likely to communicate by mail as well, often several times a day, so this traveling case provides pouches for stationery, pen, inkwell, and sander, as well as a surface in a concealed drawer for composing (and perhaps hiding) correspondence.
This object was featured in our Object of the Week series in a post titled Fashionable cases fit for travel.
This object was
donated by
Danny J. H. Kauffman.
It is credited Gift of Danny J. H. Kauffman.
Our curators have highlighted 6 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:
Its dimensions are
Open: 38.4 x 32.4 x 30 cm (15 1/8 x 12 3/4 x 11 13/16 in.) Mirror (-1d): 29 x 1.3 x 20.2 cm (11 7/16 x 1/2 x 7 15/16 in.) H x W x D: 21.3 x 32.4 x 23.3 cm (8 3/8 x 12 3/4 x 9 3/16 in.)
It has the following markings
maker's mark T.W in a rectangular punch for Thomas Whitehouse (this mark registered in 1862), with gothic lower case 'u' for London, 1875-76, the London leopard head, the sterling lion passant, and Queen Victoria's head duty mark on the silver on the case; the hinges and lock plates engraved . The lockplate signed "A? BRAMAH LONDON" The case with ASPREY -166- BOND STREET in a circular arrangement, the leather on the lid document holders stamped in gold leaf with ASPREY & SON, MAKERS, 166 BOND ST. LONDON"
It is inscribed
the silver lids engraved with a monogram of overlapping "EA" within a "D"?
Cite this object as
Traveling Dressing Table Set (England); Silversmith Thomas Whitehouse (British, active 1848-98); Retailed by Asprey & Son Co. (United Kingdom); coromandel-veneered joined wood, lined with silk, gilded and tooled calfskin leather, raised, chased and engraved silver, cut glass, mirrored glass, carved mother-of-pearl (handles), cut and engraved brass (hinges and tools), gilt-metal, forged steel (im; Open: 38.4 x 32.4 x 30 cm (15 1/8 x 12 3/4 x 11 13/16 in.) Mirror (-1d): 29 x 1.3 x 20.2 cm (11 7/16 x 1/2 x 7 15/16 in.) H x W x D: 21.3 x 32.4 x 23.3 cm (8 3/8 x 12 3/4 x 9 3/16 in.); Gift of Danny J. H. Kauffman; 1984-133-1-a/c, e/i
This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibitions The Virtue in Vice and Tools: Extending Our Reach.