Perfume Case (Etui flaconnier)
Unknown Artist
c. 1780
Medium
painted wood with gilt metal mounts, tortoiseshell
Dimensions
{"overall":{"height":0.126,"width":0.026}}
Classification
Cosmetic Objects
Department
Decorative Art and Design
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade
Accession Number
1916.324
About this artwork
Resting inside this case is a small octagonal crystal flask that would have held perfume. The painted miniatures are decorated with vernis martin, a popular varnish that imitated East Asian true lacquer. These scenes of rural merriment were often miniature reproductions of well-respected artists of the period. The depiction of three children and a dog on the lower portion of the case was drawn from Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s The Happy Family (L’heureuse fécondité) (1777).