This enamel-on-copper box was most likely made in the 18th century. These enamel wares are usually called “Battersea Enamel” after Stephen Janssen’s factory which was established in 1753, at York House, Battersea, London, even though they were also produced elsewhere in London as well as in Birmingham, Bilston, Wednesbury and Liverpool. This box would have been an heirloom when Partridge Fiske gave it to his bride Lydia Dickinson in 1824. The inscription “Constant to thee I’ll ever be” makes it a fitting wedding present. Most likely, the box held beauty patches that fashionable women, and sometimes men, wore on their faces.
Patch Box. ca. 1753. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/1887-14/. Accessed on December 27, 2024.
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