Brush and tray
Mount Vernon, New York
1887-1900
Maker
Mauser Manufacturing Company (1887-1903)
Measurements
Tray (.1), 1/2 in x 8-3/8 in x 3-1/8 in; brush (.2), 1-1/2 in x 6-7/8 in x 1-5/8 in
Materials
Ebony, bristle, silver
Credit Line
Historic Odessa Foundation, gift of Mary Corbit Curtis Meacham
Accession Number
2011.206
Inscription
“STERLING," 1378,” and the Mauser touchmark are stamped into three different locations on the bottom of the tray. The tray is engraved "SCC" in ornate script in the middle.
Condition Notes
The silver is tarnished.
Provenance
Made for Sara Clark Corbit (1871-1952), the vanity set (accession nos. 2011.203-.206), of which this brush and tray are a part, descended to Daniel Corbit Curtis and Georgia Ball, parents of the donor.
Comments
The rectangular clothes brush is made of ebony with rounded ends and a rounded contour to the brush itself. The cast tray is rectangular with a border richly decorated in foliate C scrolls and berry clusters. It has a rectangular well with rounded ends, but the dimensions of the brush are slightly too large for the recessed area of the tray.
The brush and tray are part of a vanity set assembled by Sara Clark Corbit. Each of the five objects in the set--a mirror (accession no. 2011.203), a hair brush (accession no. 2011.204), a lidded jar (accession no. 2011.205), and this brush and tray--is manufactured by a different company, but all are unified by their provenance and by "SCC" initials on the mirror, the hair brush, the jar lid, and the clothes brush tray.
