Box with hinged lid and concave corners, veneered in boule marquetry, 'carré de toilette'. French, probably ca. 1710-1715

Box with a hinged lid and concave corners, and rounded sides. The substrate is of oak or walnut, veneered in boulle marquetry with a turtleshell ground inlaid with engraved brass. The marquetry consists of strapwork and scrolling foliage, interspersed with masks, birds, bees and wreaths.

Gilt brass mouldings run along the bottom edge of the box and also outline the base and top of the lid. Four sphixes, in gilt brass, form the bottom corners of the box and feet. Each side of the lid is decorated with two gilt brass leaves, these are placed at the point at which the rounded edges slope in towards a concave corner.

Bequeathed by John Jones

The box was bequeathed to the V&A in 1882 as part of the John Jones collection. Jones made his fortune as a military tailor, kitting out the armies of the British Empire. He was also an avid collector of French furniture and porcelain, particularly of items made between about 1660 and 1800.

This box was almost certainly made as part of a toilet service. 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, with toilettesattended 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. Toilet services were expensive objects, often given as presents to commemorate events such as marriages. They tended to be made from fashionable luxury materials and reflected the wealth and status of their owner.

This box was almost certainly made as part of a toilet service. Toilet services were used by both men and women as part of a public dressing ceremony known as the levéeor toilette. The custom of the levéewas started in the 17th century by Louis XIV. Adopted by the French upper classes, it continued as an important form of elite socialising through the 18th century. Toilet sets were key to the performance of wealth and fashion that was entailed in the ceremony of the toilette. Consisting of a series of boxes, dishes and a mirror, toilet services were expensive items made from luxury materials.

This box is decorated using a technique known as boulle marquetry, in which brass (and often pewter) motifs are inlaid into an expensive turtleshell ground. This technique was developed in the late 17th-century in the workshop of André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732), a cabinet-maker who worked for the French court and nobility. Boulle marquetry remained fashionable in France (and across Europe) through the 18th and 19th centuries.

1029-1882