A Vanity Affair: L’art du nécessaire

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This outstandingly exquisite book gathers the collection of a couple devoted to beauty and rarity, compiling the most breathtaking collections the greatest jewelry houses have ever assembled! Indeed, the pieces featured in this book seem to come from an inconceivable era…

Authors: François Curiel, David Snowdon, Lyne Kaddoura, Pierre Rainero, Catherine Cariou, Laurence Mouillefarine, Diana Scarisbrick, Vivienne Becker

Publishing House: Rizzoli Flammarion

Publication Date: October 2019

This is the ultimate illustrated guide to the most exquisite vanity cases from the nineteenth century onward; an unmissable opportunity for lovers of jewelry and fashion.

This elegant and richly illustrated volume, featuring a slipcase and gilded page edges, showcases a rare private collection of vanity cases and includes an exquisite array of luxury accessories from the nineteenth century to the twentieth century. These vanity cases, carefully designed and mostly handmade, became covetable accessories with the advent of beauty products.

The vanity case, the ultimate jeweled fashion accessory, was designed and made mostly in Paris by skilled designers and craftsmen who understood that the fashionable modern woman needed a practical solution for carrying lipstick, powder compact, cigarettes, lighter, theater tickets, keys, and other small paraphernalia. Tiny, made of precious metals, including platinum and gold, with inlays of lacquer, gemstones, mother-of-pearl, jade, or enamel, these reticules took hundreds of hours of patient craftsmanship to complete.