Lodderein box - .835 silver

These tiny boxes would be filled with a little sponge, perfumed with perfume that was known as 'l'eau du rheine' or queenswater. In Dutch, this French term was muddled into the phonetic 'loderein' so they are also known as 'loderein boxes'.

This particular example is shaped like an oval hat box and decorated with a ribbed pattern that is very typical of the fashion of the early 1800s. The front is decorated with a small unengraved shield, and it has a little handle on top.

It is hallmarked with a Dutch hallmark for 835/1000 silver. It carries the maker's mark for Pieter Kuijlenburg, a silversmith who operated in Schoonhoven between 1834 and 1837.