Friday, March 26, 2010

Country Empress

A humble wood box filled to the brim with velvets and silks and lovely chiffon … The ladies in waiting gathered together a gift for their empress. Bottles of beads and tiny wild rose buds are just a few of the things to amuse and delight their Empress while she is in route to her country retreat …




Photobucket

I have a fascination for presentation boxes that were made for the French toy market
from the mid to late 1800. Some were of sweet face dolls with complete wardrobes and toilettes. While others were art kits like
"Fleurs en Papier" (paper flowers) or sewing kits to teach the little French girls their needlework.

I am not lucky enough to own one of these antique delights. So to satisfy my yearning I decided to arrange some of
my treasured bits into a presentation box.
I have a collection of antique and vintage ribbons and it was here that I made my first selections. I decided on blue and cream ribbons made of velvet, chiffon and satin.
The beautiful blues inspired the title The Country Empress.




Keeping in mind the idea of country I picked an oak wood box and lined the inside with a golden bronze colored silk.
To the flap I added vintage jewelry, an old pair of scissor and a small vintage key.
Wild rose buds were picked in June and dried and placed in small bottles,
vintage beads filled three other tiny bottles. The ivory colored folded paper on
the sides holds the tiny bottles in place and provides a pocket to tuck Dresden gold paper cones.
 

I added a vintage perfume bottle filled with German glass glitter, spools of gold colored thread and a brass Marie Antoinette charm.


The cherry on top so to speak is a hand dyed dove that I found on etsy .
I spent many hours looking for just the right items to include in this presentation box.I wanted this particular box to be very special so it was important that I did not rush the process. “The box of one hundred hours”, was what my family began to called it, was often found on the dining room table with lace and bits scattered about competing to find a place inside this humble oak box.…
In the end I think it is quite fitting for the Country Empress to take along on her journey ....


My hope is that it will become a family heirloom with it’s own story to tell….The story of the pretty little box and the one hundred hours…




----A gift for you----
for personal use only
This postcard was also an inspiration for the Country Empress.

*****Travel box was completed in July of 2008*****
Published in Somerset Life Sping 2010