Bandbox

PeriodCirca 1830 - 1850

Place MadePossibly New York, New York, U.S.A.

MediumPasteboard, wallpaper

Dimensions11.5 × 17.38 × 13.25 in. (29.2 × 44.1 × 33.7 cm)

InscribedA handwritten label accompanied this bandbox, inscribed "Hat box / Flower and Swag Motif / 19th century / From / Miss Lydia Reid Parker's / House. / Gift of / Mr. & Mrs. James Reid Parker."

ClassificationsStorage & Display Accessories

Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. James Reid Parker, 1966

Object number2020.517

DescriptionA large rectangular bandbox with rounded edges, made of pasteboard and covered with a bold wallpaper design of white full-blown roses with dark green leaves and swag draperies with tassels and fringe in shades of brilliant blue, dark green, pale pink, and pale yellow. The bandbox's lid is covered with a paper in similar shades of blue and green depicting a pair of houses set among dark green trees, with a contrasting border strip along the lid sides in bright yellow and brown.
Curatorial RemarksPractical, lightweight, and decorative, bandboxes have been used since the seventeenth century in England, when pasteboard containers were needed to store the large, lacy collars or "bands" worn by both men and women. The earliest American reference to bandboxes was in the will of Ipswich, Massachusetts resident Sarah Dillington in 1636. Bandboxes were particularly popular during the first half of the nineteenth century in America, gradually falling out of favor by the Civil War. Bandboxes could be purchased at dry goods shops and from dressmakers, milliners, and fabric stores. Many wallpaper manufacturers produced these containers as well. Most often, the boxes were covered in a wide variety of brightly-colored and designed wallpapers, often with matching or contrasting trim strips or borders. Bandboxes were used to store hats, shoes, garments, decorative hair combs, and other clothing and personal accessories. The boxes also provided bright color and decoration, perched atop wardrobes, linen presses, and high chests. Bandboxes could also be used as lightweight luggage or traveling containers. The Association's bandbox has a simple handle made of twine, threaded through two crudely punched holes in one side of the box.NotesThe Historical Association has a number of Reid family objects in its collections, many of which were donated by Lydia Reid Parker (1877 - 1966). This unusually well-preserved bandbox may have originally been owned and used by Lydia Parker's maternal grandmother Cornelia Ann Bowen (1803 - 1892), who married James A. Reid (1789 - 1867) in 1822. After Lydia's death in 1966, her nephew James Reid Parker donated a number of artifacts to the Association remaining in his aunt's home at 45 Broad Street in Freehold.

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