GENERAL DESCRIPTION
By the mid-eighteenth century, ladies' dressing tables displayed the height of exotic luxury in the rococo taste. With its fine draperies and expensive accoutrements, the dressing table rivaled the state bed and sideboard as a stage for dazzling extravagance. This lavish porcelain and gilded silver dressing box is of exceptional importance in its combination of English silverwork and porcelain on the highest artistic level. The casket is decorated in the round with elegantly chased scrolls and floral enameled porcelain plaques. The mirror back is in three parts, the center surmounted by a watch intricately framed with figures of Cupid, Chronos, and a cockerel. The unfolding casket lids cover exquisite dressing and writing apparatus, all specially fitted and neatly arranged.
The unfolding casket lids cover exquisite dressing and writing apparatus, all specially fitted and neatly arranged. Though this casket lacks heraldic devices, objects of this quality are usually associated with aristocratic commissions.
Recent scholarship suggests that Charles Gouyn established the Chelsea factory but left around 1749 to found another porcelain factory in London, where he made the so-called Girl-in-a-Swing class of porcelains. Although known for his porcelain toys, Gouyn designated his trade as "jeweler." The fine silver chased work so characteristic of the Girl-in-a-Swing type are combined here in this monumental casket.
Adapted from
- Douglas Hawes, "Dressing casket with accessorie" in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection, ed. Charles Venable (New Haven, NJ: Yale University Press, 1997), 204.
- Bonnie Pitman, ed. "Dressing casket with accessories" in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 162.
- Kevin W. Tucker, Label Copy, Margot B. Perot Curator of Decorative Arts and Design, August 2004
NOTES
This lavish dressing box is of exceptional importance in its combination of English silverwork and porcelain on the highest artistic level. The casket is decorated in the round, with elegantly chased scrolls and floral enameled porcelain plaques. The mirror back is in three parts, with the center surmounted by a watch intricately framed with figures of Cupid, Chronos, and a cockerel.
Excerpt from: Bonnie Pitman, ed. "Dressing casket with accessories" in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 162.
By the mid-eighteenth century, ladies' dressing tables displayed the height of exotic luxury in the rococo taste. With its fine draperies and expensive accoutrements, the dressing table rivaled the state bed and sideboard as a stage for dazzling extravagance. This lavish porcelain and gilded silver dressing box is of exceptional importance in its combination of English silverwork and porcelain on the highest artistic level. The casket is decorated in the round with elegantly chased scrolls and floral enameled porcelain plaques. The mirror back is in three parts, the center surmounted by a watch intricately framed with figures of Cupid, Chronos, and a cockerel. The unfolding casket lids cover exquisite dressing and writing apparatus, all specially fitted and neatly arranged.
The unfolding casket lids cover exquisite dressing and writing apparatus, all specially fitted and neatly arranged. Though this casket lacks heraldic devices, objects of this quality are usually associated with aristocratic commissions.
Recent scholarship suggests that Charles Gouyn established the Chelsea factory but left around 1749 to found another porcelain factory in London, where he made the so-called Girl-in-a-Swing class of porcelains. Although known for his porcelain toys, Gouyn designated this his trade as "jeweler." The fine silver chased work so characteristic of the Girl-in-a-Swing type are combined here in this monumental casket.
Excerpt from: Douglas Hawes, "Dressing casket with accessorie" in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection, ed. Charles Venable (New Haven, NJ: Yale University Press, 1997), 204.
This note was submitted but not tagged with a status by Megan Wanttie, summer 2016. I am tagging with #incomplete so that the note can be reviewed for formatting, tags, and text. I am also adding department tags so that the note can be routed. (EAS, 08/26/2016)
The casket in the form of a commode with serpentine front and sides, the scroll-moulded angles profusely cast with shells and swags of flowers, the sides each with three shaped 'Girl-in-a-Swing' porcelain panels painted with loose bouquets and cast with similar swags and rocaille, the front with three similar plaques above two short drawers, one containing a rectangular gold inkwell and cover and sander, the other a gold-mounted tortoise shell double-sided comb and a gold-mounted miniature brush, the back with three 'Girl-in-a-Swing' porcelain panels, the centre panel flanked by two shell, scroll and flower cast supports to hold a mirror of arched and shaped outline, the reverse with seven 'Girl-in-a-Swing' porcelain rococo plaques painted with bouquets and scatterd flower-sprays surrounded by cast and chased rococo scrolls, shells, swags of garden flowers and foliage and with panels of diaper ornament, the two doors each with three 'Girl-in-a-Swing' porcelain rococo panels painted with bouquets and scattered flower sprays surrounded by cast and chased scrolls, shells, garlands of garden flowers, grapes and fruit flanked by two waterfalls cascading into shell basins, the two doors opening to reveal a triple looking-glass edged with crimson velvet, surmounted by an enamelled dial watch-movement, the back plate signed Tho. Inkley London, the bezel set with garnets, flanked by cast and chased scrolls and flowers and with figures of Cupid and Chronos, a crowning cockerel above, the hinged top to the casket with two large shaped 'Girl-in-a-Swing' porcelain panels and with smaller subsidiary plaques at the corners surrounded by cast trailing flowers, acanthus leaves and a central tree dividing the two main plaques, a rose forming the clasp, opening to reveal the crimson velvet-lined fitted interior.
Excerpt from
Christie's catalogue, "Important Silver and Objects of Vertu including Works of Art from Houghton", London, Thursday 8 December 1994 (page 12).
"These lavish textiles would disappear in the second half of the eighteenth century with the arrival of the purpose-built table de toilette, which concealed the toilette articles and mirror behind a rich, decorative facade of gilding and marquetry. The mirror was the largest item in a toilette set (service de toilette) that could comprise more than two dozen pieces, (...) Toilette sets might also include miscellaneous items like tweezers, trays, knives, eyelash combs, funnels, chamber pots, eye baths, brushes, candlesticks, and candle snuffers. " (Charissa Bremer-David, Paris: Life & Luxury in the Eighteenth Century (Los Angeles: Getty Publications, 2011), 56.)
"Small boxes first appeared in toilette sets at the beginning of the eighteenth century. As the range of cosmetics and accessories expanded, toilette sets began to include more boxes of varied sizes and functions, designed to hold soap, sponges, combs, pins, jewelry, and other accessories as well as cosmetics." (Charissa Bremer-David, Paris: Life & Luxury in the Eighteenth Century (Los Angeles: Getty Publications, 2011), 59.)
"...A 'toilet service' comprised a matching set of a boxes, dishes, toilet accessories and a mirror. It would be found on a lady or man's dressing table in the 17th and 18th centuries.
A fashion for elaborate toilet services originated in France in the 17th-century. Louis XIV (1638-1715) and his mother Anne of Austria (1601-1666) started the custom of the levée, in which courtiers were invited to gather in the royal bedchamber while the king or queen dressed. Over the course of the 18th century, the levée became a fashionable and popular practice among the upper classes, withtoilettesattended by friends, family and servants.
A toilet service was key to the performance of the toilette, providing not only a mirror to reflect the spectacle, but also small boxes and dishes designated for holding make-up, powders, sponges, pins and jewelry." (Victoria and Albert Museum, http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O154862/box-icarre-de/)
Provenance notes:
February 1995 -- Purchased by the Dallas Museum of Art from 'S. J. Phillips Ltd.'
December 1994 -- Purchased by 'S.J Phillips Ltd.' from anonymous...
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Silvergilt
Porcelain with Enamel Decoration
Garnets
Velvet
Wrought
Modeled
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1995.22.1.a-i
Category
rules_operator
AND
General Description
By the mid-eighteenth century, ladies' dressing tables displayed the height of exotic luxury in the rococo taste. With its fine draperies and expensive accoutrements, the dressing table rivaled the state bed and sideboard as a stage for dazzling extravagance. This lavish porcelain and gilded silver dressing box is of exceptional importance in its combination of English silverwork and porcelain on the highest artistic level. The casket is decorated in the round with elegantly chased scrolls and floral enameled porcelain plaques. The mirror back is in three parts, the center surmounted by a watch intricately framed with figures of Cupid, Chronos, and a cockerel. The unfolding casket lids cover exquisite dressing and writing apparatus, all specially fitted and neatly arranged.
The unfolding casket lids cover exquisite dressing and writing apparatus, all specially fitted and neatly arranged. Though this casket lacks heraldic devices, objects of this quality are usually associated with aristocratic commissions.
Recent scholarship suggests that Charles Gouyn established the Chelsea factory but left around 1749 to found another porcelain factory in London, where he made the so-called Girl-in-a-Swing class of porcelains. Although known for his porcelain toys, Gouyn designated his trade as "jeweler." The fine silver chased work so characteristic of the Girl-in-a-Swing type are combined here in this monumental casket.
Adapted from
- Douglas Hawes, "Dressing casket with accessorie" in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection, ed. Charles Venable (New Haven, NJ: Yale University Press, 1997), 204.
- Bonnie Pitman, ed. "Dressing casket with accessories" in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 162.
- Kevin W. Tucker, Label Copy, Margot B. Perot Curator of Decorative Arts and Design, August 2004
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
This lavish dressing box is of exceptional importance in its combination of English silverwork and porcelain on the highest artistic level. The casket is decorated in the round, with elegantly chased scrolls and floral enameled porcelain plaques. The mirror back is in three parts, with the center surmounted by a watch intricately framed with figures of Cupid, Chronos, and a cockerel.
Excerpt from: Bonnie Pitman, ed. "Dressing casket with accessories" in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 162.
By the mid-eighteenth century, ladies' dressing tables displayed the height of exotic luxury in the rococo taste. With its fine draperies and expensive accoutrements, the dressing table rivaled the state bed and sideboard as a stage for dazzling extravagance. This lavish porcelain and gilded silver dressing box is of exceptional importance in its combination of English silverwork and porcelain on the highest artistic level. The casket is decorated in the round with elegantly chased scrolls and floral enameled porcelain plaques. The mirror back is in three parts, the center surmounted by a watch intricately framed with figures of Cupid, Chronos, and a cockerel. The unfolding casket lids cover exquisite dressing and writing apparatus, all specially fitted and neatly arranged.
The unfolding casket lids cover exquisite dressing and writing apparatus, all specially fitted and neatly arranged. Though this casket lacks heraldic devices, objects of this quality are usually associated with aristocratic commissions.
Recent scholarship suggests that Charles Gouyn established the Chelsea factory but left around 1749 to found another porcelain factory in London, where he made the so-called Girl-in-a-Swing class of porcelains. Although known for his porcelain toys, Gouyn designated this his trade as "jeweler." The fine silver chased work so characteristic of the Girl-in-a-Swing type are combined here in this monumental casket.
Excerpt from: Douglas Hawes, "Dressing casket with accessorie" in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection, ed. Charles Venable (New Haven, NJ: Yale University Press, 1997), 204.
This note was submitted but not tagged with a status by Megan Wanttie, summer 2016. I am tagging with #incomplete so that the note can be reviewed for formatting, tags, and text. I am also adding department tags so that the note can be routed. (EAS, 08/26/2016)
The casket in the form of a commode with serpentine front and sides, the scroll-moulded angles profusely cast with shells and swags of flowers, the sides each with three shaped 'Girl-in-a-Swing' porcelain panels painted with loose bouquets and cast with similar swags and rocaille, the front with three similar plaques above two short drawers, one containing a rectangular gold inkwell and cover and sander, the other a gold-mounted tortoise shell double-sided comb and a gold-mounted miniature brush, the back with three 'Girl-in-a-Swing' porcelain panels, the centre panel flanked by two shell, scroll and flower cast supports to hold a mirror of arched and shaped outline, the reverse with seven 'Girl-in-a-Swing' porcelain rococo plaques painted with bouquets and scatterd flower-sprays surrounded by cast and chased rococo scrolls, shells, swags of garden flowers and foliage and with panels of diaper ornament, the two doors each with three 'Girl-in-a-Swing' porcelain rococo panels painted with bouquets and scattered flower sprays surrounded by cast and chased scrolls, shells, garlands of garden flowers, grapes and fruit flanked by two waterfalls cascading into shell basins, the two doors opening to reveal a triple looking-glass edged with crimson velvet, surmounted by an enamelled dial watch-movement, the back plate signed Tho. Inkley London, the bezel set with garnets, flanked by cast and chased scrolls and flowers and with figures of Cupid and Chronos, a crowning cockerel above, the hinged top to the casket with two large shaped 'Girl-in-a-Swing' porcelain panels and with smaller subsidiary plaques at the corners surrounded by cast trailing flowers, acanthus leaves and a central tree dividing the two main plaques, a rose forming the clasp, opening to reveal the crimson velvet-lined fitted interior.
Excerpt from
Christie's catalogue, "Important Silver and Objects of Vertu including Works of Art from Houghton", London, Thursday 8 December 1994 (page 12).
"These lavish textiles would disappear in the second half of the eighteenth century with the arrival of the purpose-built table de toilette, which concealed the toilette articles and mirror behind a rich, decorative facade of gilding and marquetry. The mirror was the largest item in a toilette set (service de toilette) that could comprise more than two dozen pieces, (...) Toilette sets might also include miscellaneous items like tweezers, trays, knives, eyelash combs, funnels, chamber pots, eye baths, brushes, candlesticks, and candle snuffers. " (Charissa Bremer-David, Paris: Life & Luxury in the Eighteenth Century (Los Angeles: Getty Publications, 2011), 56.)
"Small boxes first appeared in toilette sets at the beginning of the eighteenth century. As the range of cosmetics and accessories expanded, toilette sets began to include more boxes of varied sizes and functions, designed to hold soap, sponges, combs, pins, jewelry, and other accessories as well as cosmetics." (Charissa Bremer-David, Paris: Life & Luxury in the Eighteenth Century (Los Angeles: Getty Publications, 2011), 59.)
"...A 'toilet service' comprised a matching set of a boxes, dishes, toilet accessories and a mirror. It would be found on a lady or man's dressing table in the 17th and 18th centuries.
A fashion for elaborate toilet services originated in France in the 17th-century. Louis XIV (1638-1715) and his mother Anne of Austria (1601-1666) started the custom of the levée, in which courtiers were invited to gather in the royal bedchamber while the king or queen dressed. Over the course of the 18th century, the levée became a fashionable and popular practice among the upper classes, withtoilettesattended by friends, family and servants.
A toilet service was key to the performance of the toilette, providing not only a mirror to reflect the spectacle, but also small boxes and dishes designated for holding make-up, powders, sponges, pins and jewelry." (Victoria and Albert Museum, http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O154862/box-icarre-de/)
Provenance notes:
February 1995 -- Purchased by the Dallas Museum of Art from 'S. J. Phillips Ltd.'
December 1994 -- Purchased by 'S.J Phillips Ltd.' from anonymous...
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Silvergilt
Porcelain with Enamel Decoration
Garnets
Velvet
Wrought
Modeled
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
1995.22.1.a-i
source file
object_notes_1_b-0031.xml.nores