Antique French Vernis Martin Etui, Perfume Bottle & Case, Marie-Antoinette Era

Super rare! This is from the era of ill-fated French King Louis XVI and his Queen, Marie-Antoinette, and is decorated in the layered oil paint and varnishes method which was her favorite, and created by the Brothers, Martin. Known simply as 'Vernis Martin", the beautiful decorative method remains popular today in these old treasures, and is on view in the decor at the Palace of Versailles. The object we present here is from this era, c.1750-80, and is a "flacon a' sel", (flask of salts) which would have been filled with ground salts and scented with strong perfumes. The vials like these and others were used when passing in public, to mask the unappealing odors of a city grown large and a population often of poverty. One would simply open the vial and a more pleasant odor would fill the air near one's nose, helping to mask or overcome the "odeurs du populations". The original flask it was made to hold still remains within, which is rather rare. This is a larger etui than those similarly