Intimate Possession and Status Object

Toilet boxes like this one had an international material character, but they had an international usage too. In Europe, they were part of the paraphernalia in toilet services, functioning as containers for different kinds of objects, such as perfumes, combs, make-up, brushes, and soap. At the same time, they could be displayed as garnishments on toilet tables or vanities. This particular box has a highly decorated tray which could likely be used both as an interior divider (if you look carefully, you can see a small handle at the center of the tray, which would allow the divider to be extracted more easily) and as an exterior tray, or ‘pocket emptier’, where jewels or cosmetic brushes could be temporarily placed.See Chrisman-Campbell, Kimberly, (2011). “Dressing to impress: The morning toilette and the fabrication of femininity”, Paris: Life & Luxury in the Eighteen Century. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum.

While these boxes may seem practical and mundane to us, they were not ‘just’ simple containers. During the 18th century, small boxes became highly appreciated in Europe with the popularization of the morning toilette ritual at royal courts. Within this context, the moment of getting dressed was considered a formal reception, or a special routine. These vanity rituals were practised by the aristocracy and the new bourgeoisie alike, especially in France. The morning grooming was thus transformed from a personal to a social event, in which taste and aesthetics played major roles, forming strong relations between people. Toilet boxes, displayed in the dressing rooms, were therefore important markers of distinction and elegance, but could also suggest a refined and curious taste for the unfamiliar and the foreign. This box suggests a moment when intimacy was interwoven with social life and display. In that context, finely crafted objects made from expensive materials (such as precious metals, porcelain, and lacquer) imported from far-away places perceived as ‘exotic’, started to be collected and ‘domesticated’ in the European interior spaces.

While the 18th century aristocratic morning toilette may seem a strictly European ritual, toilet boxes were displayers of social status and individual personality in other regions too. If you want to read a bit more on the use and collection of toilet boxes in a global context, then go for the longread. Or go to the next step to dive into the precious materials.