Box for rouge and patches

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Resembling a snuffbox but smaller in size, this boîte à mouches contains two closed compartments—one to hold rouge and the other for black taffeta patches. A tiny brush and mirror were placed in the larger compartment. The fashion for beauty products such as rouge and patches was widespread in eighteenth-century French court circles. This dainty box may have been sold in Paris in one of the magasins anglais where English luxury goods were available.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art