1078 - Travel necessaire, silver, case with rocaille and figure relief, 12 miniature tools, Rococo style

Travel necessaire, silver, case with rocaille and figure relief, 12 miniature tools, Rococo style Silver (proofed), travel necessaire, case with hinged lid for storing travel and sewing utensils. Upright rectangular body tapering slightly towards the bottom with oval cross-section, walls and lid embossed in Rococo style, at the front in a rocaille cartouche a standing figure in antique-style costume with plumed helmet and cloak before architecture, on the back in a rocaille cartouche a seated lady in a wide skirt with raised arm before trees, the grounds hatched, lid with rocailles, shell and flowering sprig, edges with rope moulding, base plain. Contains twelve miniature tools of various materials, among them a two-limbed folding rule, probably brass, with hinge and graduation, an awl with eye, two two-pronged forks with baluster shaft, a file with tweezers at the upper and nail cleaner at the lower end, a needle with eye, a knife blade, a small tablet with rivet, two handle sleeves, a small spoon and a round instrument. Used condition commensurate with age, minor dents, utensils partly replaced or no longer present. H. 8.5 cm. The necessaire is a small decorative container for miniature implements of daily use such as scissors, needles and writing tablets. Such containers were particularly widespread in the 18th century; ladies wore them on the chatelaine at the belt, and goldsmiths made them in embossed gold or silver, often with figural scenes in the French manner. A necessaire by the London goldsmith John Pratbernon of 1766 in the Victoria and Albert Museum contains, besides writing tablet, pencil and scissors, also toothpicks, awl and file.