Rowland Holbrook Smith (1879-1920) was born on 14 December 1879 in New York City, USA.
Rowland's father, Alfred Holbrook Smith was president and founder of the Alfred H. Smith Company, which originally focused on importing brushes.
Later on the business was expanded to include the importation of toiletries, vanity boxes and perfumes.
The Spanish word maravilla means wonderful!
The lid decoration of this vintage compact is indeed rather wonderful.
This compact measures 4 inches diameter and weighs 167.9 grams. We have never seen another one just like this! Although we have very little information which relates directly to the maker of this splendid vanity, we do know that this accessory was crafted in Spain as part of the luxury goods trade & it is steeped in the history of Spanish damascene ware.
HM Queen Victoria was a trend setter. Whatever she wore, whether it be clothing or jewellery, the ladies of the Royal Court copied, as did many noble ladies and the wealthy women of the United Kingdom.
HM Queen Victoria wore a gold enamel & diamond curb charm bracelet constantly.
The retractable powder puffs known as Houppette Pli were patented designs attributed to Leon Svirsky and Alexandre Willk.
The advertisement shown above depicts the Houppetti Pli and other vanities which Willk marketed.
In 1920 Leopold Reich entered into a partnership with Sidney Ash. Their company was styled as The Reich-Ash Corporation. Both men were experienced in the cosmetics industry. Ash had been employed by the Colgate Company and subsequently owned a business which we would describe as being involved in the cosmetics trade.
