Patch Box

1710–30

Artist unknown (American, 18th century)
Probably Newport, Rhode Island

Patch boxes were popular accessories for both men and women in the eighteenth century. They were used to hold artificial beauty marks, or patches, which were applied to the face, sometimes over blemishes or smallpox scars. These patches were commonly made out of black paper, velvet, or silk that could be cut into a variety of shapes and designs. Placing patches on specific areas of the face held different meanings. For instance, one placed at the corner of the eye was supposed to evoke passion.

Status: On View, Gallery 166
Department: Arts of the Americas

Artist: Artist unknown
Title: Patch Box
Place: Newport (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: c. 1710–1730
Medium: Silver
Inscriptions: Bottom faintly scratched with symbols and with partially obliterated Roman letters: "MN"
Dimensions: 2 × 5.1 × 7.6 cm (7/16 × 2 × 3 1/8 in.)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by Warren L. Batts
Reference Number: 1983.790
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/100828/manifest.json

Zenas Parsons (1744-1818), Hampden and Springfield, MA; Charles Boyd Curtis (1827-1905, m. Isabella Douglass Curtis (1848-1941)), Litchfield, CT; Isabella Douglas Curtis; to their son, Charles Boyd Curtis, Jr. (1878-1962), East Moriches, Long Island, NY; John Eliot Curtis (m. Auralea Cox Curtis (1927-2012), 1965); to Auralea Cox Curtis; sold to Carl Williams, New York, by 1983; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1983.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.