Silver Collection

First Object

Previous Object

Return to Introduction

Return to Gallery

Return to All Online Collections

Next Object

Last Object

Vinaigrette

Silver-gilt

Origin: Scandinavia

Date: 18th century

4.4 cm height; 20 g weight

Bequeathed by C.D.E. Fortnum, 1899; WA1899.15

T. Schroder (2009), no. 463

The vinaigrette or hovedvands (literally translated 'head-water egg') was traditionally presented as a love token to a lady and contained scented vinegar or spices to 'revive the senses'. They were popular in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. This example would probably have been intended as a pendant.

Information derived from T. Schroder, British and Continental Gold and Silver in the Ashmolean (2009)