Lidded jar
New York, New York
1885-1900
Maker
Dominick & Haff (1872-1928)
Measurements
2-3/4 in x 3-5/8 in (dia)
Materials
Colorless lead glass, silver
Credit Line
Historic Odessa Foundation, gift of Mary Corbit Curtis Meacham
Accession Number
2011.205
Inscription
The side of the lid is marked “STERLING” and “PATENT 3 1 4” and bears the touchmark of Dominick & Haff in between. The lid is engraved "SCC" in ornate script.
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 jar is a part, descended to Daniel Corbit Curtis and Georgia Ball, parents of the donor.
Comments
The spherical colorless glass jar is richly and deeply cut with fan motifs around the body and squares in a grid pattern as a background. The silver lid has repoussé decoration--a silver decorating technique in which the silver is hammered into relief from the reverse and the details sharpened from the visible surface. This jar is 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), this lidded jar, and a brush and tray (accession no. 2011.206)--is manufactured by a different company, but all are unified by their provenance and by "SCC" initials on the mirror, the hair brush, this jar lid, and the clothes brush tray.
The specific function of this jar is not known. It has been called a hair receiver--a late 19th century container for dresser use into which women put hair from hair brushes. However, those objects were typically ceramics made with lids that had holes for convenient use, rather than having to unscrew a lid as here. This jar may have been for cosmetic creams or powders.
