The mysteries of the toilet table are sometimes revealed in the curious furnishings of the dressing-room. The numerous accessories which are purchased from the beauty specialist, and as the result of speciously worded and attractively illustrated advertisements, in the present day, indicate that it is not at all unlikely that the fashions of all ages have demanded a plentiful supply of toilet requisites in order that the Society beauty might vie with her nearest rival. The curio collector is not so much concerned with the cosmetics, salves, pomades, and hair washes and dyes, the use of which has called forth receptacles for them, as with the choice boxes, cases, and implements of the tonsorial art which their use involved.

To search for such things and to secure some hitherto unknown instrument or receptacle is ever the ambition of the energetic curio hunter. The field is large enough, for such curios are found in the tombs of the prehistoric dead, and among the household gods of the primitive savage in the few remaining unexplored inhabited countries to-day. Such objects may with a fair prospect of success be looked for among the relics of Assyrian and Egyptian races, and among the bronze curios of Ancient Greece and Rome; and excavations reveal relics of Saxon and mediÆval England among the ruins which have been covered up for centuries.

Coming down the ages, the mysteries of the toilet table, as pictured in the not always refined engravings of the copper-plate artists of a century or so ago, tell of habits and conditions prevailing among the ladies of Society then which would hardly be deemed polite and refined now.

Ladies who used patches and cosmetics and dressed their hair in such a mode that it was rarely let down and brushed, needed many accessories now obsolete. Moreover, the gradual change which passed over Society, and the privacy of the modern toilet as compared with the days when much that is now deemed curious and antique was in common use, has brought about a new order of things, and made other trinkets than patch, powder, and salve boxes acceptable gifts between lovers; hence we scarcely realize the sentiment that induced the donors of toilet requisites to bestow them on the ladies of their choice, or the recipients to welcome some of the curios obviously given from sentimental motives.

The illustrations in books published many years ago incidentally recorded the use of some of the curios then in the making. The artists certainly were not over-modest, and far from bashful in the lucid way in which they pictured or caricatured the toilet table, and the maiden who in those days was acquainted with the uses of the little relics of her day which are now among the household curios appropriately grouped under the heading of this chapter.

The Table and its Secrets.

It is before the looking glass, the central object on, or forming a part of, the toilet table, that the chief mysteries of the toilet are performed. It is obvious, therefore, that the table, to be in accord with the use its name suggests, should be the grand receptacle for all the minor preparations and their boxes or covers, as well as for the brushes and combs and mirrors and sundries a Society beauty may require.

It is scarcely necessary to tax the mental faculties in imagining what may have been the equivalent to brushes and combs with which the prehistoric woman of thousands of years ago brushed and combed her tangled tresses. She was ingenious enough to break off and trim sharp prickly thorns, and to use them as pins to fasten her scanty home-made garments, no doubt; and she would probably find in Nature's supply what served her when making her toilet, and viewing herself in clear pool or stream. Artists have pictured such toilets, and poets have told of the toilet and the bath of Greek and Roman maidens of olden time.

It is said that the toilet of a Roman lady occupied much of her time. After she had risen and taken her bath she placed herself in the hands of the cosmotes, slaves who possessed the secrets of preserving and beautifying the complexion of the skin. She frequently wore a medicated mask and went through what would to-day be considered very painful operations. Her skin was rubbed with pumice stone, and superfluous hairs were removed with a pair of tweezers. Grecian slaves were adepts at colouring eyelashes and eyebrows and treating the lips with red pomade. The mirror was in frequent use. Many of the polished metal mirrors of those days were adorned with precious stones and had handles of mother-o'-pearl; and silver and gold were common in the fashioning of the framework. Hair appointments, including combs, were very decorative, frequently being made of ivory, and many beautiful carved specimens are to be seen in our museums.

The dressing table as we understand it to-day was of later days, for many centuries elapsed between the toilet of the ladies just mentioned and that of English dames whose odds and ends are to be found in most houses to-day—for few are without family relics of the toilet.

The toilet or dressing table was originally quite small, and made solely for the purpose named. It opened very much like a small desk or bureau, and was seldom more than 18 in. or 20 in. in width. The desk-like flap served the purpose of a table; behind it was a number of tiny drawers in which the secret mysteries of the toilet were hidden. There, too, were the lady's trinkets and jewellery, safely housed in the depths of those curious recesses. Such a table was surmounted by a looking glass of the type now spoken of in a generic sense as Sheraton. In line with the more elaborately fitted tables were independent glasses fitted with a small drawer—a poor substitute, however, for the toilet table and glass, combined or used in conjunction, in front of which the ladies of the eighteenth century performed their toilets.

In Fig. 64 is illustrated a very beautiful glass of the Oriental style of japanned decoration. The slide supports of the desk-like flap are on the principle adopted in the construction of contemporary bureaux. There is also a drawer, full of compartments, which draws out and discloses their covers and some of the instruments and articles of the toilet they contain.

Combs.

The combs of olden time were much more elaborate affairs than they are to-day. It would appear that the comb which must so frequently have been viewed by the fair user was considered the most appropriate toilet requisite on which to expend care and to lavish costly labour in order to make it truly a thing of beauty, to be retained and even jealously guarded.

The precious metals and ivory were used as well as hard woods. Alas! like the fate of modern combs, the teeth—coarse and fine—snapped one by one, and oftentimes a rare and beautiful back, between the two rows of teeth that once were, is nearly all that is left of the once perfect comb. Many combs of ivory, however, carved all over with exquisite miniatures, have been preserved, and the scenes upon them have been incidents of the chase, classic love scenes, and sometimes reproductions in picture form of well-known biblical scenes, not always of the most delicately chosen subjects.

Not long ago a very remarkable gold comb of first-century workmanship was found near the village of Znamenka, in Southern Russia, where excavations in a burial mound had brought to light the tomb of a Scythian king, whose head was adorned with this beautiful comb. The upper portion represented a combat between three warriors, one mounted on a charger. That comb, however, should be classed among "dress" combs rather than dressing combs.

The ivory combs for combing the hair vary in size and in the strength of their teeth. Sometimes a comb made of boxwood was inlaid with ivory, and delicately pierced panels were inserted in the centre of the comb. In some instances a small mirror is found instead of a carved panel; especially is that the case with the smaller combs carried in a reticule or bag.

Inscriptions were common, such, for instance, as those which breathed the sentiment on a boxwood comb in the British Museum, which is inscribed in French: "Accept with goodwill this little gift"; it is a pretty piece of early work, dating probably from the middle of the sixteenth century.

Patch Boxes.

The accessories of the toilet table—useful and ornamental—are many. It has ever been so, and in the change going on many odds and ends are left behind and become relics of former practices. Perhaps among the most interesting of these curios are the little boxes of porcelain, enamelled wares, and wood, which were once used as "patch" boxes, and as receptacles for the pigments employed when gumming patches upon the cheeks and forehead was the height of fashion, and when painting the face was the rule rather than the exception.

It may be contended by some that these mysteries of the toilet are not unknown in the present day, but as yet the modern accessories of the toilet table do not come within the ken of the curio hunter. It was at the Court of Louis XV of France that the practice of gumming small pieces of black taffeta on the cheeks originated, the patches soon afterwards becoming common in this country. From simple circular discs were evolved stars, crescents, and other curious forms; then, as in so many other instances, extremes of fashion brought the practice into disrepute, for so extravagant became the style that the "coach and horses" patch and others as absurd came into favour. The famous Sam Pepys recorded in his Diary the first time he saw his wife wearing a black patch; apparently it caught his fancy, for he wrote: "My wife seemed very pretty to-day, it being the first time I had given her lief to wear a black patch." Incidentally it may be noted that the famous Pepys controlled even his wife's toilet, and that she was obedient to him even in the mysteries of the dressing table!

Enamelled Objects.

The receptacles for all these compounds varied; some were of wood, beautifully carved, often embellished with brass mountings, the insides being lined with silk, and small mirrors were inserted in the lids. The pretty trinket trays, curiously coloured and decorated, boxes, and little candlesticks for "my lady's table," made of Battersea and other enamels, were much in favour a century or more ago.

Some remarkably charming boxes are met with stamped with the name of Lille, in France, where many such objects were made—the English enamels of that period are rarely if ever marked.

It would appear that very many of these little articles were the gifts of friends or purchased as souvenirs of the comparatively rare visits to fashionable places of resort. Many of those given by friends were chosen because of the mottoes and emblems with which they were decorated; for, like the combs, they were made use of to convey messages of love and friendship. We can well understand the fear that might arise lest patches became loose and rendered the fair wearer ludicrous; hence the little mirrors so often found within the boxes, which it may be mentioned were carried about in the pocket ready for use when opportunity served.

Many of the older specimens are found with mirrors of steel which, owing to exposure to damp, have become very rusty, and, in some instances, have perished altogether. Others with silvered glass mirrors show spots, and are much blurred from the same cause. The colourings of enamels vary; in some the groundwork is white, in others pink or rose-colour or blue. Little picture scenes are varied with the quaint mottoes or sentimental lines so much in vogue then.

The illustrations given in Fig. 63 are typical of the choicer decorations, showing the floral style as well as the pictorial miniature scenes for which the artists of that time were famous. Some of the toilet sundries took the form of scent bottles, others etui cases and boxes for toilet requisites, including manicure sets.

Perfume Boxes and Holders.

Perfume has always been associated with the requisites of the lady's toilet. Sweet-smelling spices are referred to in biblical records, and even to-day the offering of perfume is a symbol of honour to the guest in the East; and some very beautiful Oriental scent sprinklers and spice boxes are now and then met with among Eastern curios. The long-necked rose-water sprinkler is the most common form, supplemented by betel-nut boxes and receptacles made by Persian artists for the famous attar of roses. Scents and "sweet odours" became fashionable in Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; articles of clothing were scented, and there was a profusion of scent for the hair and in making the toilet.

The pomander box, the favourite perfume holder of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries of England, was in the form of an apple, the perfumes and spices being made up like a ball. It is said that the perfume was prepared from a sixteenth-century recipe, the basis of which was sweet apples or apple pulp, and scented gums and essences. From the pomander box smaller receptacles were evolved, and more elaborately prepared scents were kept in them. Some of the preparations consisted of camphor, mint, rosemary, and lavender in vinegar, a piece of sponge being saturated with the liquid. Then came the use of aromatic vinegar, and gradually beautiful little silver vinaigrettes were introduced. Many of them were very ornamental in shape, highly decorated with miniatures and floreated embellishment, the monogram or name of the owner often being added. In the outer case was usually a cover of perforated gold which closed over a piece of sponge, upon which aromatic vinegar or some similar preparation was poured. The best vinaigrettes are those bearing the hall-marks varying from 1800 to about 1840, when the making of vinaigrettes declined and other scents took their place.

The burning of perfumes in bedrooms and the fumigation of wardrobes and chests by means of a fumador was a custom much resorted to by Portuguese ladies in the eighteenth century. Sweet lavender is still used in the linen cupboard, although its use was much more general in the days when London street cries were heard.

Dressing Cases.

When people travel and visit their friends their luggage includes among other things a dressing case, for there are many toilet requisites which are of a personal character, and cannot well be substituted by others. It is true that the need of portable dressing cases has increased of late years owing to greater travelling abroad. Dressing cases, however, are by no means modern, for some very beautiful examples with silver-topped bottles, hall-marked in the days of Queen Anne, are among the collectable curios. There is a still older example in the Victoria and Albert Museum—a case of tortoiseshell, filled with a complete toilet set, consisting of four combs and thirteen toilet instruments, partly of steel and partly of silver. It is an historic case, having been presented by Charles II to a Mr. T. Campland, who is said to have at one time sheltered him. Many old families have interesting and valuable examples, and not infrequently isolated cut-glass bottles with Georgian hall-marked silver tops which have formed part of the equipment of dressing cases are met with.

Scratchbacks.

Old English scratchbacks are among the rarities of the curios associated with the toilet table. It is unnecessary to comment upon the habits and customs of those periods when scratchbacks were found necessary, or to refer to the hygienic conditions of the toilet then conspicuous by their absence. It is sufficient to allude to these curious little instruments, mostly shaped like a hand, often of ivory, and always fitted with a handle in length from 12 to 15 in. The hand in some cases is large in proportion, measuring as much as 2½ in. in length, sometimes as an open hand, at others with the fingers closed, often very beautifully modelled. Horn and whalebone were favourite materials for the handle, although some were of ebony and other woods. Scratchbacks appear to have been made both in lefts and rights in this country; but the scratchbacks of the Far East were invariably rights. The accompanying illustrations, Fig. 65, show the usual types of these now obsolete toilet requisites, which it may be noted were sometimes duplicated by miniature scratchbacks carried about on the person, hung from the girdle.

Toilet Chatelaines.

The chatelaines worn by the ladies of olden time were bulky, and the various objects deemed necessary to carry about the person rendered them cumbersome in the extreme. A bunch of keys was always in evidence, and a glance at a few old keys indicates how large the keys of even quite small boxes were in olden time. There were the keys of the store cupboard, of the linen chest, and of the larder and the wine cellar. Drawers and cupboards and boxes, as well as the bureau or desk, were always locked, and to deliver up the keys was indeed to surrender one of the privileges of the matron and housewife which were jealously guarded.

There were articles of toilet use, too, worn at the girdle. It is recorded that Queen Elizabeth carried her earpick of gold ornamented with pearls and diamonds. The little set, which was worn at a lady's chatelaine in the eighteenth century, shown in Fig. 66, consists of toothpick, earpick, and tongue scraper of silver, whereas the set illustrated in Fig. 67 includes tweezers, a nail knife, and other instruments. There are some charming manicure sets extant, as well as isolated nail files of ivory and steel, and curious little instruments for simple surgical operations, such as strong-nerved ladies were not averse to perform in the good old days.

Locks of Hair.

Although long since separated from toilet operations, mention of locks of hair so carefully preserved may not inappropriately be made here. Many of these are associated with happy memories of childhood, others of more saddened recollections. It has been a common practice to preserve locks of hair of departed friends and relatives. In former days these locks of hair were often enclosed in lockets, some of which were very large. The simple lock did not always satisfy, for there are many artistic plaits and beautifully formed sprays, imitating feathers and even flowers, which were in years gone by cunningly interwoven and artistically arranged on cardboard preserved by glass, often in golden lockets and frames. Some persons have made quite important collections, one of the most noted being that of Menelik II, the Abyssinian king, who possessed upwards of two thousand locks, varying from light to dark, and from fine to coarse, each lock being labelled with the date and particulars of its acquisition. It would be well perhaps not to enter too closely into the source of some of these specimens, which had peculiar interest to the dusky king. It is said that some of them were chiefly admired for their settings, which included mounting with rare emeralds. The collection of emeralds, of which he had some of marvellous beauty and lustre, was another of that monarch's hobbies.

Jewel Cabinets.

In association with the toilet table are the numerous boxes which have been made as receptacles for jewels. From the days when the dower chest contained a small compartment for valuable trinkets the furniture of the lady's boudoir has been incomplete without a jewel box or some article of furniture where the knick-knacks of the home could be kept, and more especially the wearable jewellery. The Chinese and Japanese have ever been clever in the fashioning of small cabinets, and many delightful little boxes, cabinets, and jewellery receptacles have been brought over to this country.

Some of the old lacquer ware is exceptionally interesting, the decorations upon such pieces being doubly so when the legends they depict are fully realized and understood. The accompanying illustrations represent four Japanese jewel cases which are exceptionally fine curios. Fig. 70 is decorated on the outside of the doors with a view of Itsukushima; and there are two peacocks on the top, and the two elders of Takasago are depicted on the back. The bamboo and the plum are designs symbolical of longevity. This truly exceptional piece was sold in the auction rooms of Glendining & Co., who also disposed of the remarkable jewel box shaped as a pagoda, illustrated in Fig. 71, a very beautiful piece elaborately decorated with birds and landscapes, and the box illustrated in Fig. 68 and small cabinet, Fig. 69.