This handkerchief case ('sachet'), as its matching wedding basket (‘corbeille de mariage’; T.42-2018) are exceptionally fine examples of French court embroidery of the late 1780s.
The padded, book-like structure made this case a a secure holder for valuable handkerchiefs that were either embroidered or trimmed with lace. The six pairs of wide, silk ribbons were used to keep the case closed and its content safe, making it a folder that's also suitable for travel.
The case and the basket were originally most probably parts of a suite of matching furnishings, which would most often include bed curtains, coverlets, fire screens, bolsters, etc.
The finely stitched embroidered repertoire, executed in the late Rococo style, is very similar to the furnishing designs by the renowned Lyonnais designer J F Bony for Marie-Antoinette’s ‘summer’ furniture at Versailles, made in 1786. These were described as ‘white Gros de Tours with shaded flowers: bouquets of lilacs, ribbons and peacock feathers’. The counterpane of this set of furnishings is still exhibited in the Queen’s Bedchamber at Versailles today, though the wall hangings are later reproductions.
Although the description is not detailed enough to identify the case and the basket as parts of the suite made for Marie Antoinette, they represent the highest quality of embroidery and passementerie in pre-Revolutionary France. The passementerie that is sewn along the edges of the case and ends of the silk ribbons is composed of narrow strips of thick paper (parchment ?) made into petals or spirals and wrapped with coloured silk threads.