Box
18th century (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This type of flat box was used to hold beauty patches. In France during the 18th century, fashionable women and men wore black patches of gummed taffeta on their faces to emphasize the beauty or whiteness of their skin.
This example has been decorated using the intricate technique of piqué which was perfected in Paris in the 18th century. It required skilled craftsmen to inlay turtle shell (now known as tortoiseshell) with tiny gold pins (known as piqué point) or strips of gold in shallow grooves (piqué posé). The extremely fine piqué point work on this box depicts a flower basket, a popular motif in France during this period.
This example has been decorated using the intricate technique of piqué which was perfected in Paris in the 18th century. It required skilled craftsmen to inlay turtle shell (now known as tortoiseshell) with tiny gold pins (known as piqué point) or strips of gold in shallow grooves (piqué posé). The extremely fine piqué point work on this box depicts a flower basket, a popular motif in France during this period.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Picque, inlaid tortoiseshell, gold |
| Brief description | Box, tortoiseshell inlaid with gold, France, 18th century |
| Physical description | Picque, inlaid tortoise-shell. Flat and oblong, the lid held by two external hinges. Inlaid on the lid is scene showing a goddess on a cloud giving armour to one of two men in classical armours (possibly Thetis giving the armour to Achilles). |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label | Silver Gallery:
Flat boxes such as this one were used in France to hold the beauty patches popular with the aristocracy. The extremely fine piqué point forms a flower basket, a popular motif in later 18th-century France.(26/11/2002) |
| Credit line | Griffin Bequest |
| Summary | This type of flat box was used to hold beauty patches. In France during the 18th century, fashionable women and men wore black patches of gummed taffeta on their faces to emphasize the beauty or whiteness of their skin. This example has been decorated using the intricate technique of piqué which was perfected in Paris in the 18th century. It required skilled craftsmen to inlay turtle shell (now known as tortoiseshell) with tiny gold pins (known as piqué point) or strips of gold in shallow grooves (piqué posé). The extremely fine piqué point work on this box depicts a flower basket, a popular motif in France during this period. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.185-1960 |
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| Record created | February 9, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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