Toilet box (one of a pair) (part of a set)
These boxes were part of a toilet service sold by the leading London retailers Parker and Wakelin to John Heathcote, who, a few years earlier, had married the heiress Lydia Moyer. Parker and Wakelin’s accounts for the sale show that the service included eight such boxes, a pair of candlesticks, two "essence pots," a looking glass, a "jewells trunk," and a pair of octagonal pierced trays. The cost for gilding the service was more than £56—roughly equal to the annual wage of a successful artisan—and the entire bill came to more than £300. There was a further charge of £6 6s for a "red morocco leather case with a drawer & 2 cushions."
Artwork Details
- Title: Toilet box (one of a pair) (part of a set)
- Maker: John Parker (British, active 1759–77)
- Maker: Edward Wakelin (British, active before 1748, died 1784)
- Date: 1766
- Culture: British, London
- Medium: Silver gilt
- Dimensions: Overall (confirmed): 2 x 5 1/16 x 3 5/8 in. (5.1 x 12.9 x 9.2 cm)
- Classification: Metalwork-Silver
- Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 2008
- Object Number: 2008.543.16
- Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
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