In the Courts of the 18th Century… the New, New Thing was the Bonbonnière

Fashionable things today are like fruit flies. They generate from nowhere and invade our consciousness like barely visible interlopers. As quickly as they appear, they vanish. Held captive by the trend machines of popular culture, magazines and television feed our imagination and push us toward one trend or another. In an age when all attention is given to the newest, new thing, why should we linger on one well-made masterpiece?

Well… to some of us, fancies of another day are more enchanting. Our thoughts are set adrift by objects of subtle refinement and exquisite craftsmanship, we imagine a time of splendid leisure, elegance and extravagance.

In the eighteenth century, the royal courts were the ultimate arbiters of taste and little decorative boxes were all the rage. There were boxes for face powder, for face patches, for snuff and for tasty little bonbons. Little porcelain boxes where the greatest artists and goldsmiths displayed their skill. These boxes were rich in material, exemplified beauty of craftsmanship, and were extremely exquisite.

Remembered as a softer, more genteel time, the eighteenth century was an age when the manners of a person were as important as integrity. But lest we forget, everybody in those days had bad breath. There were no toothbrushes. Just a scrub with a linen cloth or a dig or two between the teeth was all there was. Most teeth in those days were crooked and grey. Those were the fortunate ones who still had them.

To make good impression, it was necessary to mask the odor of one’s breath. To do so people relied on candies made of sugar coated seeds and nuts or a sugar paste mixed with mint, cinnamon or crushed up fragrant seeds that were quickly popped in the mouth.

These ‘kissing comfits’ which perfumed the breath, needed to be held in something and this was a time when a tin container like our Altoids today just would not do. Something had to be created. Alas, we have the genesis of a magnificent little gem… the bonbonnière. Created to hold sweets to freshen the breath, not chocolates as some mistakenly assume.

In the courts of England and France, the new, new thing was the bonbonnière. Owning an enamel bonbonnière indicated the wealth of a person, as did having it filled with sweets, because sugar was an expensive and desirable commodity in those days.

Towards the end of the eighteenth century, sugar became cheaper and less exclusive to the rich. Ironically, tooth decay, linked to sugar, became widespread as sugar became available to more people.

Get your paddle ready as this little Louis XV stripped lacquered box with a central motif of a painted bouquet of roses with reeded gold mounts is set to be sold on January 22, 2009 at Christie’s (London). The interior is even lined with tortoise shell. (Date: 1768-1774).

Pugs were very popular dog in the eighteenth century. This French one, circa 1740, is available at Eron Johnson Antiques.

In Britain, many bonbonnières were made by the Bilston enamellers. They came in a variety of shapes and sizes each having exquisite painting. They took many forms from decorative little boxes to fruit, to the shape of animals, to even shoes.

Sweet little Bilston bullfinch, c. 1790, sold April 2001 at Sloan’s Auction Galleries in Miami.

Another little pug reclining on a grassy ground. Underneath has a scene of a woman playing with her dog. c. 1770.


The sturdy pug dog was one of the most popular pets in both eighteenth century France and England. The breed was first imported in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries by merchants and crews from the Dutch East Indies Trading Company. Pugs were first popular in England and their popularity spread. George III’s wife Charlotte kept many.

Head of a pug. Bilston. C. 1770, Wolverhampton Arts and Museums.

Head of a leopard, South Staffordshire, c. 1775. Sold at Ivey-Selkirk Auctions. September 2002.

Sad muzzled hound, South Staffordshire, c. 1770, Ivey-Selkirk Auctions. September 2002.

Hare Bonbonnière, Bilston, 1770 – 1775, Wolverhampton Arts and Museums.

Cow and nestling Calf Bonbonnière, Bilston, 1770 – 1780, Wolverhampton Arts and Museums.