Scent Bottle
1600-1700
Medium
Decorative Arts
Classification
Decorative Arts
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly
Accession Number
1929.8.240.1
Art Historical Context
This delicate **Scent Bottle**, dating from 1600-1700, exemplifies the artistry of early decorative arts during a time of colonial expansion and refined European influences in America. Crafted by an unidentified artisan, it belongs to the Smithsonian American Art's collection of everyday luxuries that reveal the tastes of the emerging elite. Scent bottles like this one were prized personal accessories, used to hold perfumes, essential oils, or aromatic powders—essentials for masking odors in an era before modern hygiene and signaling social status. As a prime example of decorative arts, the b...
About the Artist
Unidentified ( ) · –