Vinaigrette box

At least three generations of Samuel Pembertons worked as jewelers and silversmiths in Birmingham in the 18th and 19th centuries, either fathers and sons or extended family. The first Samuel Pemberton registered several silver marks at Birmingham Assay Office between 1773 and 1801. His son Samuel Pemberton (1738–1803) was a Guardian of the Assay Office in 1793. Another Samuel Pemberton (1771­1836) was also a silversmith. Any of these makers could have produced this vinaigrette. From the mid-1770s until at least the 1820s, the Samuel Pemberton workshops were on Snow Hill, the heart of the jewelry and toy-making district. Bright-cut foliate engraving and wrigglework (engraving consisting of repeated zigzag motifs) typified much of their decorated boxes and vinaigrettes. Here, the lift-off cover reveals a detachable pricked, engraved and pierced gilt grill.



A vinaigrette was intended to hold a tiny sponge dipped in aromatic vinegar. Its interior is gilded to protect the silver from oxidation caused by the acidity of the vinegar. A hinged and decoratively pierced inner lid or grill kept the sponge in place while its perforations allowed the odor to waft through. A whiff of the vinegar might revive someone from a fainting spell. Such vinaigrettes were worn around the neck, on a chatelaine suspended from the waist, or carried in a pocket.