c.1760 Georgian Rococo Vinaigrette

A rare c. 1760 Georgian Rococo vinaigrette, with a body of striated gray agate fitted within a chased cagework of bloomed 15k gold, the interior with a pierced cover, and the bail in the form of a rope-weave handle. An 18th c agate and gold vinaigrette with identical bail design is illustrated on p. 122 of “Georgian Jewellery 1714-1830” by Ginny Redington Dawes with Olivia Collings. Prior to the advent of public sanitation and hygiene improvements, public odors could be so vile as to render one nauseated. Since antiquity, men and women relied on aromatic materials to revive the senses when feeling faint. During the Georgian era, social mores encouraged women to lead sedentary (and rather hypochondriac) lifestyles; this, combined with the heat and smells of candlelit assembly rooms, meant fainting spells were in common order. The vinaigrette were practical fashion accessories for such events: a sponge soaked with various aromatic solutions or smelling salts would be placed in the inner compartment, with the pierced cover allowing the scents to permeate beyond. A collapsing lady might take a whiff and thus feel revived.

The present vinaigrette was made c. 1760, at the height of the Rococo golden age for objets de vertu. Associated with the consumption habits of the nobility, various tiny objects — e.g. fobs, snuff boxes, etuis, bodkin cases, and vinaigrettes — were made from precious materials to showcase the wealth of the owner, as well as the virtuosic skill of the maker. The present piece was likely made in London; its workmanship and material design matches two London-made snuff boxes in the Victoria & Albert Museum (M.172-1941, M.230-1917). The crafting of an objet de vertu was a piecemeal collaboration between several specialized trades. The agate body came from the mines of Idar-Oberstein and was formed by German craftsmen, many of whom worked in London during the 18th c. A separate specialist would have taken care of the hinge and rim (known in the trade as a ‘joint’, a highly-skilled task). Finally, another specialist, a chaser, was responsible for making the beautifully chased cagework in gold.
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