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Georgian Period Gentleman’s Travelling Vanity Case
Towards the end of the 18th Century, dressing/vanity cases were manufactured specifically to accompany upper class gentleman during travel. These cases were originally rather utilitarian, but they spoke volumes about their owner’s wealth and place in society, at the time only the elite were fortunate enough to travel.
This case in particular is burr walnut veneer over a hardwood case, trimmed with ebony , with mother of pearl designs on the top and front. The wood pattern is just beautiful. The case is really sturdy as well, which denotes high build quality, you can imagine the original owner of this case, used this for a long time, it became his companion when travelling.
Note, when you open the case, the clasp still grips well, no slip at all. As you look around the case, observe the solid silver hinges and lock.
In the door of the case, is a tooled leather pouch to carry papers / letters / other thin items.
These cases were fully loaded with everything the upper class gentleman needed to stay on top of his game when travelling. Usually containing bottles and jars for colognes, aftershaves and creams.
In this case you can also see bottles for talc, however, the powder in this case specifically is of such high quality, it makes baby talc seem like sand. You can also see perfume still in the bottles, which smells incredible, immediatley sparking visions of a beautifully appointed home, with vintage furniture, and baroque art adorning the walls.
The case also comes equipped with mother of pearl utensils, so our man about town can touch up every aspect of his appearance.
Lastly, the travelling case comes equipped with containers made for holding items such as soaps or razors, each with a beautifuly designed silver plate on its lid.
Now, the eagle eyed among you might have spotted these bars at the front and side of the box. Well, these are additional storage drawers, which can be accessed by pressing these buttons on top. Testament to the build quality, if I dont place my hand in front of the drawer, I could press this button and launch the drawer across the room, even though this case is around 200 years old.
The front facing drawer, is designed to carry jewellery, perhaps a pocket watch. The side drawer might be for loose change, as its relativley plain compared to the rest of the case.
There is alot to love about this case, for me its the build quality, the smells this case contains, the simple yet beautiful mechanisms. When you take a long hard look at the case, its very easy to imagine the journeys this case took with its owner.