Box (1771): Art, History and Details

Box (1771) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Thomas Heming (British, 1722/23–1801).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Produced by King George III’s principal goldsmith, Thomas Heming, this silver gilt box closely resembles those he produced for the Queen of Denmark and the ladies of the British court in the 1760s. Adorning the hinged lid is an unidentified scene along with four scallop shells and acanthus leaves. Similarly, the curvilinear sides are ornamented with an array of swirling flora and serpentine lines.

Object facts

• Title: Box
• Date: 1771
• Creator attribution: Thomas Heming (British, 1722/23–1801)
• Culture: England, London
• Type: Silver
• Technique: silver gilt
• Dimensions: Overall: 12.4 x 18 x 14.4 cm (4 7/8 x 7 1/16 x 5 11/16 in.)
• Collection: Decorative Arts
• Department: Decorative Art and Design
• Accession number: 1976.17

A detail from the museum

This small box likely held jewelry and may have been accompanied by a mirror, scent bottles, brushes, combs, candlesticks, and small covered bowls on a wealthy woman’s dressing table.

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1976." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 64, no. 2 (February 1977): 39-78.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.