Hair Brush thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Not currently on display at the V&A
On display at National Trust Belton House, Lincolnshire

Hair Brush

ca.1695 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This object is part of a toilet service engraved with the crest of the Earls Brownlow, Lincolnshire. The toilet service represented the height of aristocratic fashion. Women used the many pots and containers for cosmetics and ointments. The whisk was used to powder wigs. The extravagance and size of many toilet sets demonstrate the public aspect of courtly life. As private rooms were also used to receive guests, the toilet service was displayed to impress visitors. Anne of Austria (1601-66), married to Louis XIII of France, kept a 17-piece gold service in her rooms at the Louvre palace.

Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
Silver-gilt, raised, cast, applied, engraved with wood
Brief description
Silver-gilt oval-shaped hair brush; Philip Rollos, England, ca.1695
Physical description
Oval, silver-gilt hair brush of convex form with an engraved foliate-tongue border and an applied band of gadroons within. The bristles are embedded in wood. The back of the brush is engraved with the crown and crest of the Earls Brownlow.
Dimensions
  • Height: 4.5cm
  • Width: 11.6cm
  • Depth: 9cm
  • Weight: 220g
Updated with measurements taken 20/08/08
Marks and inscriptions
Engraved with the crest and coronet of the Earls Brownlow
Credit line
The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Object history
Provenance: John Egerton, 3rd earl of Bridgewater. Viscount Alford. The earls Brownlow. By descent to the barons Brownlow. Toledo Museum of Art. Purchased from S.J. Phillips Ltd., London, 1982.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This object is part of a toilet service engraved with the crest of the Earls Brownlow, Lincolnshire. The toilet service represented the height of aristocratic fashion. Women used the many pots and containers for cosmetics and ointments. The whisk was used to powder wigs. The extravagance and size of many toilet sets demonstrate the public aspect of courtly life. As private rooms were also used to receive guests, the toilet service was displayed to impress visitors. Anne of Austria (1601-66), married to Louis XIII of France, kept a 17-piece gold service in her rooms at the Louvre palace.

Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.
Associated objects
Bibliographic reference
Schroder, Timothy. The Gilbert collection of gold and silver. Los Angeles (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) 1988, cat. no.34, pp. 141-47. ISBN.0875871445
Other numbers
  • SG 144S - Arthur Gilbert Number
  • 1996.1057 - The Gilbert Collection, Somerset House
  • SG 122B - Arthur Gilbert Number
  • 1996.907 - The Gilbert Collection, Somerset House
Collection
Accession number
LOAN:GILBERT.641-2008

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Record createdJune 19, 2008
Record URL
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