Powder Box, between 1738 and 1739

  • Etienne Pollet, French, active 1715 - 1751

Silver

  • Overall: 4 × 5 inches, 1 pounds 6 ounces (10.2 × 12.7 cm, 0.6 kg)

Founders Society Purchase, Elizabeth Parke Firestone Collection of Early French Silver Fund

53.180

On View

  • Fashionable Living, Level 3, South

Department

European Sculpture and Dec Arts

The third duke of Cadaval of Portugal ordered this nineteen-piece toilet service for the French princess Henriette of Lorraine on the occasion of their marriage in 1739. The only complete French toilet set to survive from the first half of the eighteenth century, it includes a mirror, ewer and basin, candlesticks, jewel boxes, clothes brush, and pin cushion, among other articles. The royal silversmith Thomas Germain (1673–1748) may have designed this elegant toilet set, actually fabricated by four lesser-known Parisian silversmiths. Commissioned by one of the most important lords of Portugal, the set represents the quality and luxury of the toilet services made for the French court during the first half of the eighteenth century and later melted down or dispersed.

ca. 1738, probably commissioned by Jaime de Mello, 3rd Duke of Cadaval, or by Louis of Lorraine, prince de Lambesc

May 1739, Henriette-Julie-Gabrielle de Lorraine, Duchesse de Cadaval [1724-1761]

by descent to the family of the Dukes of Cadaval (Lisbon, Portugal)

1931, sold by 9th Duke of Cadaval

1931, acquired by (Jacques Helft, Paris, France)

1952, Elizabeth and Harvey Firestone, Jr.

1953-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

Etienne Pollet, Powder Box, between 1738 and 1739, silver. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Elizabeth Parke Firestone Collection of Early French Silver Fund, 53.180.