Covered Toilet Box 1849 - 1858

The United States Pottery Company crafted this covered toilet box out of glazed earthenware, sometime after 1852. While ‘toilet’ may strike us as a funny name, it was often used to describe a dressing or vanity table, and the objects that sat upon it. Consider for a moment the intimate rituals of grooming and adornment. This box, with its mottled brown glaze, was designed to house powders or creams, objects which are themselves deeply tied to identity, gender, and class. Who used this box and what did it mean to them? The rise of mass-produced ceramics coincided with evolving social norms around hygiene and beauty. The material reflects the democratization of personal care, making it available to a broader segment of the population. Yet, ideas of beauty and cleanliness are never neutral. They are shaped by cultural values, and often reinforce existing hierarchies of race, gender, and class. What does it mean to hold such a contested history in your hands?