A Bilston enamel Patch Box, circa 1770
This oval patch box is painted in colourful enamels with floral sprays and sprigs, including a large pink rose, on a white ground. The interior is decorated with white enamel. The box would have once held small patches of paper, silk or velvet to be applied to the face in the form of a beauty spot (mouche). Often, but not always, a mirror was set inside the lid.
Exquisite ‘toys’ such as this would have been gifts and tokens of esteem between friends and lovers.
During the second half of the 18th century, the Midlands, especially areas around South Staffordshire and Birmingham, were centres for the production of small, metalwork items such as this patch box.
Dimensions: Width (across the base) 4.5 cm; Height (to top of domed cover) 2.5 cm.
Condition: No chips, restoration or overpainting, just a few very faint typical cracks. The hinged metal mounts are secure, and the box opens and closes very neatly.
English Painted Enamels, Therle and Bernard Hughes (Country Life, 1951).
Bilston Enamels of the 18th Century, Tom Cope (Black Country Society, 1980).
English Enamel Boxes, Susan Benjamin (Macdonald Orbis, 1988).
Price: £145.