Container

Hat pin container A hat pin container from the museum collection – a set together with the container no. S 10140. It is made of crystal glass and silver, partly gilded, manufactured in Vienna at the end of the 19th/ beginning of the 20th centuries. The container has the form of a rectangular prism, with walls of thick dark glass, with a silver profiled cover. The wall glass is decorated with vertical ground ribs, and at the top – with a triple band of ground ribs, additionally decorated with a single cross on each wall. The container cover is decorated at its edge with a pearl ornament band, inside galvanically gilded. On the wall there are gilder’s marks, at the bottom of the container – a polished pointed star. Such accessories, like powder containers, flasks for perfume and grooming waters, cream boxes, nail files, scissors, brushes, constituted the necessary equipment of the dressing table of the lady of the house. They were frequently made of crystal glass, silver and gilded silver, as well as richly decorated; they were frequently manufactured by famous gilders and appreciated artists. Possession of these indicated the status of the lady of the house. Galvanic silver or gold plating entails placing the metal (most commonly copper, later nickel) object in a container with a silver or gold solution, and separation of pure silver or gold by the flow of electric current, so that a thin layer of this metal would be deposited on the object.