French Period Box in Black Lacquered Wood

Original label in its inner part “Jean-Alain Bidegand – 9, rue de la Tour Paris“

As the original label reads, this beautiful case is a “coffre nécessaire.”

But, necessary for what? Actually this is a travel case that the nobility and wealthy families would take with them when they travelled.

From very famous travellers like Goethe or Stendhal, we know that in the past travelling was totally different from what it is nowadays.

First of all it meant spending entire days in a carriage, bumpy rides, at the mercy of bad weather and of outlaws.

Therefore it was not something one would embark on light-heartedly.

All the slightest details had to be carefully worked out, including personal care. We know that wealthy people were used to having a host of valets, chambermaids and servants to take care of them.

How did they manage when they travelled? Well, they would take everything (or almost everything) with them: the “necessary”, in cases like the one we are displaying here.

We do however need to specify what the nobility considered to be ‘necessary’.

Of course, noblesse oblige… toiletries, make-up and, of course, jewellery.

And, as in our case, anything needed to write a letter. Business? Diplomacy? Or rather steamy love letters

This traveller’s nécessaire is truly an excellent example of elegance and of the superfluous that becomes necessary.