Antique or vintage cardboard often deteriorates over time, ripping, staining or rotting, so I was pleased to recently discover a small face powder box in good condition up for sale.
I'm a vintage tin person but I keep an eye out for boxes as well and have a tiny collection - a 1950s Cussons Damask Rose box with a woman wearing a rose hat and holding a rose, a Cussons Spring Blossoms bath cubes box (age unknown) with flowers and two bath cubes inside and a 1960s Kolotex Clings hosiery box, with a man in a suit and a woman in a dress from the hips down and a black poodle looking up at them, containing unopened "seamless mesh nylons".
My new acquisition is a Poudre Azurea L.T. Piver Paris box, age unknown, although it has an art deco look.
Azurea was a perfume of rose, jasmine and iris, launched by L T Piver in 1897 and it came in a variety of other products including face powder, talc and soap.
In 1813, Louis Toussaint Piver took over a Paris perfume business which had been founded in 1774 and risen to become the official seller to the court of Louis XVI and the royal families of Europe.
The 1800s saw L T Piver grow to more than 100 branches around the world and loyal customers included the Bonapartes. Sculpted crystal bottles by Lalique and Baccarat were provided for L T Piver scents.