Soap Box
1682-1683 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This soap box is part of a shaving set that also includes a jug (Loan:Gilbert.620-2008) and a basin(Loan:Gilbert.621-2008).Inventories show that silver shaving sets were in use from the early 1500s. However this set is the earliest known to survive. Soap was kept in silver ball-shaped containers at the edge of the silver basin. The jug held water for washing.
The range of British silver for the home from this period (the first for which a representative quantity survives) demonstrates increasing foreign influences from France, the Netherlands and Portugal. The rising demand for fashionably decorated European silver from the 1660s onwards reflects Britain's new wealth and political stability.
Sir Arthur and Rosalinde Gilbert began collecting in the 1960s and over a period of 40 years formed one of the world’s great private collections of decorative arts. The collection consists of over 800 objects from the fields of European gold and silver, Italian mosaics and hardstone, portrait enamels and gold boxes. Sir Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996 to be housed at Somerset House, London, having previously been displayed at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). In 2008 the collection was moved to dedicated galleries in the V&A, where a selection has been on permanent display ever since.
The range of British silver for the home from this period (the first for which a representative quantity survives) demonstrates increasing foreign influences from France, the Netherlands and Portugal. The rising demand for fashionably decorated European silver from the 1660s onwards reflects Britain's new wealth and political stability.
Sir Arthur and Rosalinde Gilbert began collecting in the 1960s and over a period of 40 years formed one of the world’s great private collections of decorative arts. The collection consists of over 800 objects from the fields of European gold and silver, Italian mosaics and hardstone, portrait enamels and gold boxes. Sir Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996 to be housed at Somerset House, London, having previously been displayed at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). In 2008 the collection was moved to dedicated galleries in the V&A, where a selection has been on permanent display ever since.
Object details
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| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | silver, engraved |
| Brief description | Silver-gilt soap box, London hallmarks for 1682-1683, mark unidentified. |
| Physical description | An almost spherical soap box extremely smooth in appearance with a single rib serving as a foot. The only decoration is that of the Bridges crest lightly chased on the cover. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
| Object history | Provenance Acquired by Arthur Gilbert from S.J. Phillips Ltd, London, 1987. |
| Historical context | Silver shaving jugs, along with basins, are included in inventories from as early as the sixteenth century but this set is the earliest known surviving example. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This soap box is part of a shaving set that also includes a jug (Loan:Gilbert.620-2008) and a basin(Loan:Gilbert.621-2008).Inventories show that silver shaving sets were in use from the early 1500s. However this set is the earliest known to survive. Soap was kept in silver ball-shaped containers at the edge of the silver basin. The jug held water for washing. The range of British silver for the home from this period (the first for which a representative quantity survives) demonstrates increasing foreign influences from France, the Netherlands and Portugal. The rising demand for fashionably decorated European silver from the 1660s onwards reflects Britain's new wealth and political stability. Sir Arthur and Rosalinde Gilbert began collecting in the 1960s and over a period of 40 years formed one of the world’s great private collections of decorative arts. The collection consists of over 800 objects from the fields of European gold and silver, Italian mosaics and hardstone, portrait enamels and gold boxes. Sir Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996 to be housed at Somerset House, London, having previously been displayed at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). In 2008 the collection was moved to dedicated galleries in the V&A, where a selection has been on permanent display ever since. |
| Associated objects |
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| Bibliographic reference | Schroder, Timothy. The Gilbert collection of gold and silver: recent acquisitions. Los Angeles (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) 1988, cat. no. F |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | LOAN:GILBERT.622:1,2-2008 |
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| Record created | May 15, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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