North American Auction Company
Timed Auction

Last Chance March Passed Lots Offering - Ends March 10th

Mon, Mar 6, 2023 02:00AM EST - Fri, Mar 10, 2023 03:00PM EST
Lot 717

Ladies Floral Design Porcelain Boudoir Dish

Estimate: $100 - $200

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$50 $10
$100 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$25,000 $2,500
$100,000 $5,000
Featured in this lot is a Vintage Ladies Floral Design Porcelain Boudoir Dish, also known as Cuspidor or Spittoon, mid Victorian to early Edwardian eras circa 1870s to 1910s. Between the mid-1800s and the 1930s, spittoons were as common in American households as pots and pans. It became a popular pastime in the last decade of the 18th century and continued to be so until 1920. Women, especially those in Victorian times, used the spitton as well. After the Civil War, spittoons became a fixture in many places, including hotels, saloons, stores, and any other place where men chewing tobacco might congregate. These were large vessels made of brass or pottery with a broad rim. Woman, on the other hand, used a dainty spit cup—also called a lady’s cuspidor, toilette cup, or boudoir dish—to gracefully discard their sputum. Some looked like regular coffee or tea cups while others had fanciful shapes with fluted rims. Since ladies didn’t need to spit across the room, these cups often had decorative gold rims and base, and delicate, lady-like designs. Some came in the shape of little baskets or drawstring purses. English and French manufacturers, especially Limoges, made these lovely spit receptacles out of fine porcelain, and for plainer, everyday use, ironstone with flowered transferware patterns on both the inside and outside. This porcelain Boudoir Dish / Cuspidor is decorated with a pink lavender and golden yellow floral design, is in very fine condition, no marring noted. Measures 7.5" mouth, 5" base and 4.5"H.