Toiletry Set

These sets provide an invaluable indication of men’s way of living under the First Empire. Each consists of a case holding a selection of very useful objects for various purposes that could be taken along on their trips or kept in their rooms in order to store everything in the tidiest manner.


The Napoleonic era and its European policy put tens of thousands of army officers and great numbers of diplomats on the move. Depending on the season, aristocrats and middle-class people travelled various distances to the various spa towns of the Empire. Craftsmen tried to outdo each other in ingenuity in offering their services to them.


This set, which unfortunately is not signed—only the silversmiths are identified, not its maker and seller, at that time called a fancy turner—is a particularly luxurious object, as shown by the use of silver gilt and mother-of-pearl for most of the implements, as well as burl veneer for the case.


Contents


- four covered tumblers
- two flasks
- water glass
- small coffee pot with a detachable handle
- cup and saucer
- inkwell and powder flask
- eyecup
- funnel
- pair of pillboxes
- fork
- coffee spoon
- soup spoon
- pair of picks (for oysters and snails)
- toothbrush
- hook
- tweezers
- tongue cleaner
- two pocket knives
- pair of scissors
- two gimlets
- four razors
- seal
- small brush
- file
- shaving brush
- moustache comb
- strop
- mirror
- letter box