Beauty Powder
Accessories
Inventory number
2018.7.11.5ab.AC.CS.C1910.FRAuthor:
House of Coty (International, founded 1904)Description
Round beauty powder box by Coty. The tone of the powder is "Rachel n°1" and the powder is perfumed with "A l'Or", a House of Coty's fragrance. The box is orange and decorated with cotton puffs with handles, designed by Léon BAKST.The founder, Francois COTY believed the aesthetics of the packaging to be as important as the product. After his successful artistic partnership with designer Rene LALIQUE in the early 20th century, Coty approached Leon BAKST to design the Air Spun powder box. Leon BAKST is celebrated for his colourful exotic costumes and decors created for the Ballet Russes, which prompted new fashions in dress and interior decoration. This colourful, exotic aesthetic can be seen in the design of the powder box, where fluffy white powder puffs with black and gold handles float against an orange and gold background. Bakst's original powder box design was made of Moroccan leather with gold leaf embossing. However, these boxes were expensive to manufacture and Coty paid his customers to return them when empty. They were then sent to Japan where the gold leaf would be scraped off and then reused. Bakst's design was later modified into a cheaper cardboard version by Coty's commercial artist Georges DRAEGER. The design of the packaging created an impression of luxury and prestige, while still being mass produced. These 'luxury' items were made even more accessible to middle and working class women by packaging them in small quantities and creating gift sets and co-ordinating product lines. Coty Air Spun powder was very successful, selling in Europe, North and South America, Australia and Asia.
Materials
CardboardPaper
Origin
circa 1910 FranceDimensions
Width : 8 cmLength : 8 cm
Height : 4.5 cm