Box in the shape of an infant in swaddling clothes
karta katalogowa kolekcji
Rzemiosło artystyczne
France
1830s
porcelain, onglaze paints, gilding, siver
10.4 x 3 x 2.2 cm
Marks: on the lower and upper silver band an almost indecipherable mark of the Parisian assay office - a boar's head (used since 1838), on the upper band - an equaly unclear mark of the goldsmith: along the of the romb - at the top: the letter J, at the bottom: the letter B, between them: a badly impressed convex part
Wil.5659
This small likeness of an infant in swaddling clothes is not a child’s toy. Such elongated objects were made out of ivory, silver, glass and, predominantly, porcelain embellished with meticulously painted colourful decorations. Outfitted with a silver or sometimes a gold setting with curlicues, they fulfilled the function of a sophisticated case for small utensils indispensable for the elegant ladies of the period. As a rule, they were used for carrying needles or hairpins, and sometimes served as a cover for a small penknife or pencil.
Needlecases in the shape of an infant or asparagus are mentioned among the wide assortment of small articles in a document issued by the Meissen manufactory in 1765. Other items from potteries in Germany, France or England assumed the refined shape of a girl’s leg in a shoe and wearing a stocking and a garter, or a woman’s arm with a visible fragment of a sleeve and cuff, a bracelet and rings, with the hand often holding a cluster of grapes, a handkerchief or a miniature bouquet of flowers.
Barbara Szelegejd
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