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GLOVE BOX

Creator(s): De Recy (Artist) , Max Symon (Retailer)

Currently in storage


About this object

Glove boxes were indispensable elements of a well-appointed dressing table even into the late nineteenth century. Since gloves were perfumed with scented powders, it was necessary to keep them in closed containers to preserve their perfumed fragrance. This box was decorated in Paris and presented to Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna in 1896. To ornament the cover, the artist was careful to choose themes and decorative styles that would express the Russian identity of its owner.

The rectangular box has a central medallion painted on the cover which shows Saint George in armor against a sunburst background, riding his horse over a dragon. Flanking ribbons are inscribed with the motto "Post Tene/bras Lux" (After the Darkness Light.) On the border a pattern of interlaces with a frieze of birds running through them is interrupted in four places by a segment of knotted interlaces on a black ground. Medallions at the four corners contain the Russian imperial eagle surmounted by a crown. Similar motifs decorate the front of the box. At the center the monogram MF is surmounted by an imperial crown. A gold medallion on each end is ornamented with an imperial eagle in black.

Object name:
GLOVE BOX
Made from:
Watercolor on ivory
Made in:
Paris, France
Date made:
1896
Size:
4.9 × 9.6 × 34 cm (1 15/16 × 3 13/16 × 13 3/8 in.)

Detailed information for this item

Catalog number:
36.18
Class:
IVORY
Signature marks:
SIGNATURE De Recy 1896 [signed at the right front] INSCRIPTION Post Tene/bras Lux [Trans. After the Darkness Light] [on ribbons] INSCRIPTION Max Symon, 30 Rue Royale, Paris; g.236783 [Gatchina palace inventory in blue] [underneath] MONOGRAM MF monogram [on front] PLAQUE An Ivory Glove Box presented to Maria Feodorovna, The Empress Mother of Nicholas II, on the Occasion of their visit to France, in Celebration of a Franco-Russian Alliance. Decoration and Painting by French artist, De Recy, in token of Deenies (probably unconscious) help to the American Embassy in Moscow 1937-38. 1950 Christmas Greetings to Deenie and Stan from Joe [inside box]
Credit line:
Bequest of Marjorie Merriweather Post, 1973