Dressing Case Tools and Accessories
Vanity and travelling tools formed an essential part of many dressing cases. Scissors, tweezers, nail files, penknives, pencils and other small implements were commonly included in both ladies’ and gentlemen’s cases. Gentlemen’s examples might also contain razors, shaving brushes and boot-related tools, while ladies’ cases often incorporated sewing and needlework accessories such as needle cases, bodkins, crochet hooks and thimbles.
The tools themselves could be made from steel, brass or silver, sometimes gilded for decoration and to help resist staining. Handles were commonly fashioned from mother-of-pearl, ivory, bone, brass or silver and might be further embellished with engraving, engine turning, chasing, repoussé, gilding or plating.
The photo below shows a detailed view of the vanity tool compartment from an 1884 coromandel dressing case with Betjemann Patent mechanism, by Jenner & Knewstub.
The photo below shows a detailed view of the vanity tool tray from an 1864 Dressing Case in Calamander with Silver-Gilt / Gold Fittings by Walter Thornhill.
Hair and clothes brushes, combs, glove stretchers and shoehorns were often stored in drawers or lower compartments. These could be made from ivory, bone, silver or other materials and were frequently personalised with matching monograms or crests.
Glove stretchers, also known as glove expanders, consist of two prongs joined by a spring-loaded hinge. When inserted into the fingers of a tight-fitting glove and compressed at the handles, the prongs open to stretch the leather gently.
