Victorian boudoir: Oriental style for European lacquered boxes

Victorian boudoir: Oriental style for European lacquered boxes

 

 

Papier mache lacquer boxes with bouquets and butterflies or birds, where very common at the end of XIXth century in Europe. They were Orientalism's pieces, when Chinese and mostly Japanesse style were in vogue. Many boudoir pieces, as shells for jewellry, snuff boxes or letter racks were very popular then.

 

European flora and faune for Victorian boudoir bouquets

 

All motives are hand painted, in a naturalistic style, so you can recognise botanical and animal species, as  summer bouquest with dog-roses and centaureas cyanus: two wild flowers with a long historical journey in European cultural tradition, which have been symbols of countries and dynasties along the times.

Here you can see a daisies bouquet, with a Nymphalis antiopa in the glove box, and an Anglais urticae in the handkerchief's:

 

Japanese and Chinese traditional lacquered boxes as inspiration for European boudoir boxes on 19th century

 

As you can see, most of them have red inside, like traditional red lacque, but at the end of XIXth century you can find some og them in pink. They have golden/silver touches in the leaves, and butterflie and bird appears usually isolated, as in the Meiji period boxes they are inspired in. But there were others inspired inspired into the Edo Period Gold maki-e on black lacquer boxes, always reinterpretated with an European esthetic.