Key c. 1745

0:00

gold, glass

gold

glass

ceramic

decorative-art

rococo

This is a gilded glass nécessaire, or vanity set, of unknown date and origin, housed here at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. The detailed imagery and luxurious materials speak to the rituals of personal care and beautification within a wealthy household. But what about the labor and global trade that made such objects possible? Who were the glassmakers, designers, and traders involved in its creation and distribution? Consider how the elaborate design and precious materials might reflect social status and cultural values. The neoclassical scenes evoke a sense of history and refinement, inviting a closer look at the stories that everyday objects can tell about gender, class, and identity. Reflect on the intimate and personal nature of a vanity set like this, and how its presence in a museum setting transforms its meaning. It becomes a window into the lives of people from another era, and a mirror reflecting our own relationships with beauty, luxury, and history.

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minneapolisinstituteofart over 1 year ago

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The box is decorated with scenes from the life of St. Nicholas of Myra. This fourth century Greek bishop, who was the patron saint of children, sailors and travelers and the guardian of young women, was the forerunner of St. Nicholas or Father Christmas. The gold scenes were applied in a piqué technique whereby thin sheets of gold are impressed into tortoiseshell which has been softened in boiling water and olive oil. Once the shell cools, it contracts and the gold is securely held in place. This technique was first introduced at the end of the sixteenth century in Naples, and by the following century it had spread to France, England and northern Europe, with Paris and Naples as the principal centers. The costly and time-consuming nature of this intricate technique imply that it was used on only the most expensive small luxury items such as inkstands, trays, snuffboxes and boxes for toilet articles, in this case gold-mounted perfume bottles.