Soap and sponge boxes
Matching spherical boxes such as this pair were often made to accompany a silver shaving basin—an oval bowl with a broad notched rim that allowed the basin to be pressed against a gentleman’s neck while he was being shaved. The decorative piercing on the sponge box had a practical purpose: it allowed air to circulate to dry the damp sponge. The unpierced box accommodated a piece of soap, which, in the eighteenth century, was purchased in a ball rather than a bar.
Artwork Details
- Title: Soap and sponge boxes
- Maker: Marked by C. Louis Gérard (1697–1759, master 1716)
- Date: ca. 1739
- Culture: French, Douai (Lille Mint)
- Medium: Silver
- Dimensions: Overall (each): 3 3/4 × 3 3/8 in. (9.5 × 8.6 cm)
- Classification: Metalwork-Silver
- Credit Line: Bequest of Catherine D. Wentworth, 1948
- Object Number: 48.187.142, .143
- Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
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I.P.
ca. 1750–60
I.P.
ca. 1740–50
Manufacture Royale
André Philippe
ca. 1770–80
Jacques-Nicolas Roettiers
1775–76
François Thomas Germain
1757
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