About our collection

The esteemed tradition of enamelling in England was established as early as the Nineth Century when the famous King Alfred Jewel, crafted from crystal with a hand painted enamelled plaque set underneath was made.
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With a long history of the decorative arts industry, the Austrian capital of Vienna became a key centre of decorative enamelling in the second half of the Nineteenth Century.
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A number of regions such as the northern Stroganovsky and Usolsky established their own enamel traditions in the Seventeenth Century.
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Resembling a snuffbox but mostly smaller in size, the patch box was used to contain ‘patches’ (false beauty marks/ spots) which were bits of gummed taffeta or other fabric used to emphasize the beauty of whiteness of the skin or draw attention to particular facial features.
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During the late Eighteenth Century and throughout the Nineteenth Century perfume or scent bottles became an established and fashionable accessory or even necessity of the well-dressed person of the day.
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In the late Seventeenth Century ‘porcelain fever’ broke out across Europe. Princes and wealthy merchants were consumed by the passion to collect and use Asian porcelain.
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The singing bird box or ‘boîte á oiseau chanteur’ originated in Geneva in the late Eighteenth Century, with its first design attributed to Pierre Jaquet-Droz.
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An étui is a small case that contains miniature implements used to perform household tasks. Designed primarily for women, they can be quite ornamental.
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In eighteenth century Europe, boxes played a significant role in the conduct of social affairs produced for the affluent nobility all over France, Switzerland, Germany, Russia, Austria and Italy and even as far as Sweden and Denmark.
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The Eighteenth Century was a great age of candlelight, and the salons of the nobility were lit by many hundreds of candles from chandeliers, candelabra and wall sconces as the gentry wanted to prioritise the aesthetics of the light source rather than just ensuring its functionality.
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Bonbonnièrres are small decorative boxes containing ‘bonbons’ or sweets. Hence the derivation of the term ‘bonbonnièrre’ from the French word ‘bonbon’.
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The consumption of snuff or powdered tobacco rapidly increased in the Seventeenth Century and by the beginning of the Eighteenth Century it was acceptable for even ladies to inhale and became the approved tobacco product favoured by nobility.
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