A dressing case is a portable fitted box, or later a leather case, containing the bottles, jars, brushes, razors, combs and implements needed for grooming and personal care. Fine examples include compartments for toiletry bottles with silver or silver-gilt lids, manicure tools, button hooks and sometimes writing equipment, jewellery trays and secret drawers.
Dressing cases were made in Britain from the eighteenth century and became especially popular in the Victorian period, when travel by rail and steamer increased. Cases in brass-bound rosewood, coromandel or walnut, with velvet or silk-lined interiors and hallmarked fittings, were made by leading London retailers and manufacturers. Later examples, particularly in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods, were housed in crocodile or morocco leather suitcases with fitted lids. Many cases include a maker's or retailer's plaque, and the hallmarks on the fittings help date them accurately. Collectors look for complete sets of matching fittings, an original key, crisp silver decoration, sound hinges and locks, and well-preserved linings. Missing or replaced bottles reduce value, but individual fittings are often sold separately and can be reunited with incomplete cases.
