14-piece Toilet Service

This service is engraved with the initial “D” for Elizabeth Sackville, Duchess of Dorset, in whose family it descended. However, its maker and his nationality remain a mystery, and aspects of its construction are unusual for English silver. The scenes on the box lids are modeled on prints after French painter Jean-Antoine Watteau; the sides are decorated with scenes from the Italian Comedy.

A silver service was a focal point in an aristocratic bedroom, where getting dressed in the morning was an elaborate social ritual that could last for hours.  Assisted by hairdressers, tailors, and maids or valets, the nobleman or woman washed their face and hands, had their hair arranged and powdered, applied cosmetics and perfumes, and dressed. The various bottles and boxes of the service contained scented water and creams, wig and face powder, rouge, jewelry, pins, and gloves.