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Baroness Blanche Staffe wrote in her 1893 Etiquette book “The dressing room of every well-bred woman should be both elegant and comfortable in proportion to her fortune and position.”
Nowhere was this more true than in the 19th century, when a lady delighted in “getting ready” for the day or evening at a luxuriously appointed vanity, her personal space for which she chose a glittering assortment of mirrors, brushes, boxes and products she used for making herself more beautiful.
A dressing table, or vanity, that eminently feminine piece of furniture, served as a personal oasis where she concentrated on her beauty rituals, and transformed herself into the most elegant, alluring being she could be.
HISTORY
Elaborate boxes to hold beautifying accoutrements such as flasks for rare perfume, implements for applying makeup, and mirrors were constructed since ancient times. An inlaid cedar cosmetics box found in an Egyptian pharaoh’s tomb by Howard Carter — who later discover Tutankhamun’s tomb — contained perfumes, face paints and stone ointment jars, and a hand mirror made of polished metal with a wooden handle decorated in gold. 3000 years old, this box is the ancestor to the vanity, or dressing table.
Women have always desired a designated place to keep their precious ointments and perfumes. The earlier boxes were portable, the French cosmetic boxes, nécessaires, were made of the most luxurious materials.
It wasn’t until the late 18th century in France, when the box was placed on a small table by an astute lady or her personal maid, that the dressing or vanity table we recognize today was born.
Louis XIV’s mistress, Madame de Pompadour, is credited with designating a whole room as a boudoir, a room filled with a dressing table for pampering and primping. The boudoir was a private space where a woman could retreat to bathe, put on make up, have her hair done, and also entertain visitors to share the latest court gossip.
Unabashedly feminine, Madame de Pompadour was her generation’s style setter, she commissioned the best furniture makers to create luxurious specialized dressing tables for her boudoir.
By the late 1800’s, no Victorian lady’s boudoir or dressing room was complete without a vanity or dressing table and mirror, and all the accoutrements she required for primping.
Fashionable ladies spent much of their time preparing their toilette for the endless array of social appearances they were expected to attend.
COLLECTING
While the luxurious dressing tables that epitomize the Victorian concept of femininity are certainly antiques well worth collecting, it is the array of exquisite objects used in private quarters during the Victorian era that are beloved by today’s collector for their exceptional quality and fine craftsmanship.
Of the highest quality, alluring and of exceptional beauty, the powder jars, brush and hand mirror sets, vanity trays, perfume bottles, pin cushions and jewelry caskets are but a few of the pieces that make a true collector’s heart beat faster.
Some are collected simply for their sentiment and whimsy, such as the sterling button hooks, as these are not things we use in our daily lives anymore.
We have many elegant antique vanity or dressing table antiques to choose from. They can still be used daily, and displayed with joy.
An array of crystal jars and bottles topped with repousse sterling caps together with several Victorian silver hand mirrors will create an elegant and romantic setting in your bedroom or bathroom.
Many of the exceptional pieces featured in this article are still available.
What a beautiful post, Lidy. Those ladies sure knew how to stay beautiful in style! I have a lighted 10x mirror on an antique French vanity table. It’s simply NOT beautiful and romantic!
Ginger, I have one too!! We have to do what we have to do…not having a lady’s maid to apply make up as we get a little older.
thank you! what a lovely description.
I needed to imagine the space and it calmed me.
Kate, it really does calm, doesn’t it? To imagine a restful, beautiful space, I think that is one of the many magic things that antiques hold for us in this busy life.
This is a beautiful post, Lidy. It is so fun to look at how ladies used to beautify themselves. The pieces are stunning! I just wonder where they found the time to sit there and primp. I guess life moved slower then, right? Have a lovely day.
Thank you so much Diana, I think that the ladies who owned these kind of pieces had servants who did everything!
Because of your beautiful collections, so exquisitely displayed, I have been peering in glass cases in antique shops looking for beautiful vanity jars with silver tops…The Victorian Era certainly was a most wonderful time of elegance. P.S. I so love highly polished silver. I know many love the look of the tarnished patina, but there is nothing like way silver was meant to be … shiny and brilliant.
Shirley, I agree with you, I love my silver polished to a lustrous gleam!
Oh be still my heart ! This is so very lovely! Such a lovely way to start my Friday. 🙂 Thank you for sharing this beauty .
Sharon, thank you! It’s so nice to share beauty with friends like you!
Everything is so delicate and pretty…I really love the powder jars and all of the silver accessories. I think I’m sort of a dying breed as I love my mirrored tray on my dresser with all of the perfume bottles sparkling.
Have a great weekend, my friend! Cold and rainy here at the lake. 🙁
Jane x
Thank you Jane, I don’t think you are a dying breed at all, Jane! There are many, many of us who love pretty sparkling perfumed bottles and mirrored trays,
actually of all ages! Here at FrenchGardenHouse we have many young women who collect the antique vanity pieces too, to add a jolt of “antique” to their
more contemporary interior.
Hi there Lidy! I always enjoy your posts and am sure to learn a thing or three. This one was no exception. To me, a collectible or antique is so much more than itself. Its history and story are what draws me to it. Love the mirrors. Have a wonderful weekend, Pat at Bringing French Country Home
Hi Pat! I agree, like you, I love the history and the “stories” that antiques whisper. Isn’t it such fun to imagine who used a sterling mirror, what did she look like, love, and care about?
I hope you have a wonderful weekend, too!
Beautiful! I would love to have a dressing table like this!
Jill, it’s a beautiful spot to get ready for the day, it has such a calming effect. No matter how hectic the rest of the day becomes, this starts me off in peace.
It is the first time I have seen your post. It’s so lovely. I am so glad to see women are still interested in having a beautiful area of their bedrooms or bathrooms or just love the look and feeling. I have collected silver topped bottles and romantic pieces since my teens. I still love the look as if back in my teens. I like Pottery Barn, etc., but I have managed to incorporate enough of antiques and beautiful pieces that everyone that sees my decorating is knocked out.
Dina, thank you so much for your visit! Welcome to my blog, I hope that you will enjoy some of the older posts, and the new ones to come. I agree, antiques make contemporary homes have that WOW factor!
I love the hunt for these beautiful items. I have collected varied pieces since my 20’s. My first was a hand mirror with a fairy, sold to me by an elderly woman in her 80’s.
She said it was a gift for her 16th Birthday. I could tell it was special to her.
She sold it to me, knowing that I would be a good caretaker of it. To this day it is my favorite piece.
I love your collection! I cant help but wonder what each pieces story beholds.
It’s exquisite!