Powder Box

1738 or 1739

Etienne Pollet French, active 1715 - 1751

On View

Fashionable Living, Level 3, South Wing

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Markings

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Provenance

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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About the Artwork

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.

Title Powder Box

Artwork Date 1738 or 1739

Artist Etienne Pollet

Life Dates active 1715 - 1751

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. French

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Silver

Dimensions Overall: 4 × 5 inches (10.2 × 12.7 cm)

Classification Silver

Department European Sculpture and Dec Arts

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

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 53.179

Markings

Inscriptions Inscribed, engraved, on lid of box: [The coats of arms of the Dukes of Cadaval and Lorraine]

Marks Marked, maker's mark, struck on underside of box, not legible Marked, warden's mark for 1738-39, struck on underside of lid and on underside of box: Y Marked, charge mark for 1738-44, struck on underside of lid and on underside of box: [crowned A] Marked, discharge mark for 1733(?)-75, struck on applied molding, on lid and on box: [walking cow]

Provenance

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)

For more information on provenance, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Grigaut, P. "An Eighteenth-Century French Silver Toilet Set in Detroit," Bulletin of the DIA 33, no. 1 (1953-54): pp. 12-14.

Grigaut, P. "An Eighteenth-Century French Silver Toilet Set in Detroit," The Art Quarterly 16, no. 3 (Autumn 1953): pp. 239-247.

Comstock, H. "The Connoisseur in America," The Connoisseur 133, no. 538 (June 1954): p. 291.

"In the Museums," Antiques, vol. 67, no. 5 (May 1955): pp. 422, 428.

French, English and American Silver. Exh. cat., Minneapolis Institute of Arts. June 9-July 15, 1956, no. 37.

Helft, J. Treasure Hunt. Memoirs of an Antique Dealer. London, 1957, p. 40, (ill.) pl. 8.

Brault, Solange, and Yves Bottineau. Orfevrerie Francaise du XVIIIE Siecle. 1959, pl. VII.

Treasures from the Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1960, (ill.) p. 199.

Came, Richard. Silver. 1961, p. 107.

Grigaut, P. European Decorative Arts in the Eighteenth Century. Detroit Institute of Arts, 1961, pp. 8, 24 (ill.).

Fregnac, C., ed. Les Grands Orfevres de Louis XII a Charles X. Paris, 1965, pp. 136-137.

Treasures from the Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1966, p. 205 (ill.).

Davis, F. French Silver 1450-1825. New York & Washington, 1970, p. 28, (fig. 44).

Whitehead, J. The French Interior in the Eighteenth Century. New York, 1992, p. 226 (ill.).

A Visitor's Guide: The Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1995, p. 210.

Albainy, T. "Eighteenth-Century French Silver in the Elizabeth Parke Firestone Collection," Bulletin of the DIA 73, no. 1/2 (1999): pp. 17-21; p. 18, (fig. 12) (ill.).

Carlier, Y. "Details of the Toilet Service of the Duchesse de Cadaval," Bulletin of the DIA 78, no. 1/2 (2004): pp. 4-17.

Chrisman-Campbell, K. "Dressing to Impress: The Morning Toilette and the Fabrication of Femininity," in C. Bremer-David, ed. Paris: Life & Luxury in the Eighteenth Century. Los Angeles, 2011, pp. 56-73; p. 57, (fig. 35) (ill.).

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Etienne Pollet, Powder Box, 1738 or 1739, silver. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Elizabeth Parke Firestone Collection of Early French Silver Fund, 53.179.