Soap Box and Sponge Box Set (1769): Art, History and Details

Soap Box and Sponge Box Set (1769) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Sèvres Porcelain Factory (French, est. 1756); Antoine-Toussaint Cornaille (French, 1735–1812).

The work and its context

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

In 18th-century France the toilette, an elaborate dressing ceremony practiced by both men and women, became increasingly ritualized and public, creating a demand for matching containers and implements like this soap and sponge box. The box with the lid pierced in floral patterns would have been used to carry the sponge.

Object facts

• Title: Soap Box and Sponge Box Set
• Date: 1769
• Creator attribution: Sèvres Porcelain Factory (French, est. 1756); Antoine-Toussaint Cornaille (French, 1735–1812)
• Culture: France, Sèvres
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: soft-paste porcelain with enamel and gilt decoration
• Dimensions: Overall: 11.5 x 9.1 cm (4 1/2 x 3 9/16 in.)
• Collection: Decorative Arts
• Department: Decorative Art and Design
• Accession number: 1953.635

A detail from the museum

The first recorded sale of a boîte d’éponge was to Louis XV in September of 1767.

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Guilleme-Brulon, Dorothée. "Les Objets de toilette en porcelaine de Sèvres." L'Estampille 154 (February 1983).

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.