If you were looking for a romantic and whimsical example of an early face powder container it would be hard to beat the French Germandrée brand. Decorated with a repoussé image of a lady sitting in front of a dressing table mirror and putting on powder with a large, and what must surely be a swan\'s down puff, this container epitomises the vanity box in both name and action. It is both guileless and enchanting and to my mind this is what makes it so attractive as a collectible piece. Germandrée face powder was awarded a bronze medal at the 1887 Paris Exposition and had previously enjoyed this exhortation in an April 1880 article - \"...a box of Germandrée, the rice powder par excellence, is perhaps the only one that is absolutely beneficial as noted by several doctors.\". This was probably just advertising hype but the brand went on to win a silver medal in 1889 and a gold medal at the 1900 Paris Exposition! The case on offer would have been manufactured by the French company Berlan and Lederlin and is the best-known of at least two different types of aluminium containers used for Germandrée products. I estimate that the date of release would have been 1920, after the First World War when metal was once again able to be used for objects other than war materiel. The case does show signs of use, including a small ding on one side, but the cover image is in very good condition and is the reason why any collector would want this case for their collection. The asking price reflects its collectibility. There container is 5cm in diameter and 1.5cm high. It weighs just 10gm. The seller is downsizing his extensive collection, having spent the last 30 years collecting, researching and posting on his blog on collectingvintagecompacts.blogspot.com. Please offer with confidence.
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