c. 1780 Rare Georgian Sterling Silver Filigree Bougie Box
$3,255.00
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An incredible c.1780 Georgian silver filigree bougie box.
It is a cylindrical shape with its original lid, which has
an opening for the candle to emerge. The cartouche on the front
has the initials "AC" engraved into it.
This is a very rare bougie box, you will not find many like this.
Approx. Dimensions:
Height: 1 1/2"
Width (w/ handle): 2"
Approx. Weight: 23g
Condition: Good original condition, no losses to the silver filigree.
The handle is hinged, although it hasn't been moved in a long time,
The handle is hinged, although it hasn't been moved in a long time,
and we are leaving it in it's current position.
Excerpt from "The Regency Redingote": The bougie-box was developed
several decades after the introduction of the wax-jack. Bougie is French for
candle, specifically a candle made of wax. The origins of the word are to
be found in North Africa, in the Algerian city of Bijiyah, which for centuries
had carried on a thriving trade in wax. The French called the town Bougie,
and that same name was soon also applied to wax candles in France.
The earliest known bougie-boxes date from the first decades of the
eighteenth century. They appear to have been initially introduced on the
Continent, primarily in Italy and France. Bougie-boxes had migrated to
England by the middle of the eighteenth century and remained in use there
well into the middle of the nineteenth century.
Essentially, a bougie-box is a roller or spindle around which a long taper has
been coiled and is then placed inside a closed container, usually cylindrical
and often made of metal. The taper is fed up through a small hole in the lid
of the box for burning. The original intent of the bougie-box design was as
a means by which to enclose and therefore protect, a long coil of beeswax
which was to be used as light.
