Terms and Conditions
The artist, title and date of the work must be listed anywhere the image is reproduced:
St James'S Porcelain Factory, London (manufacturer)
Basket of flowers, scent bottle (1740)
porcelain (soft-paste), gilt-metal
5.7 × 4.5 × 4.0 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Patricia Begg OAM Bequest, 2024
© Public Domain
Photo: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
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Basket of flowers, scent bottle
(1740)
Medium
porcelain (soft-paste), gilt-metal
Measurements
5.7 × 4.5 × 4.0 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Patricia Begg OAM Bequest, 2024
© Public Domain
Gallery location
17th & 18th Century Decorative Arts & Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
These miniature bottles were containers for ladies’ perfume and would most likely have sat on the dressing table as part of the toilette service. Conceived to delight, some were made by the Chelsea manufactory but most were produced by the short-lived St James’s Porcelain Factory, run by the jeweller Charles Gouyn, who had been a partner in the Chelsea factory before starting his own business. Gouyn’s factory was the first to produce such miniature scent bottles, known as ‘toys’ in the eighteenth century, as well as bodkin cases and other similar personal trinkets. Large numbers of scent bottles were exported to continental Europe; hinged and fitted leather travelling cases have also survived for some bottles.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
London, England
Accession Number
2024.353
Department
International Decorative Arts