Truly "the world is very young for its age." We are never too old to
admire a pretty favor or a tasteful _bonbonniere_; and, looking back
over the season, we remember, as among the most charming of the
favors, those with flowers painted upon silken banners, with the
owner's name intertwined. The technical difficulties of painting
upon silk are somewhat conquered, one would think, in looking at the
endless devices composed of satin and painted flowers on the lunch-
tables. Little boxes covered with silk, in eight and six sided
forms, with panels let in, on which are painted acorns and oak
leaves, rosebuds or lilies, and always the name or the cipher of the
recipient, are very pretty. The Easter-egg has long been a favorite
offering in silk, satin, plush, and velvet, in covered, egg-shaped
boxes containing bonbons; these, laid in a nest of gold and silver
threads in a _cloisonn_ basket, afford a very pretty souvenir to
carry home from a luncheon.
Menu-holders of delicate gilt-work are also added to the other
favors. These pretty little things sometimes uphold a photograph, or
a porcelain plate on which is painted the lady's name, and also a
few flowers. The little porcelain cards are not larger than a
visiting-card, and are often very artistic. The famous and familiar
horseshoe, in silver or silver-gilt, holding up the menu-card, is
another pretty favor, and a very nice one to carry home, as it
becomes a penholder when it is put on the writing-table. Wire rests,
shaped like those used for muskets in barracks yards, are also used
for the name and menu-cards. Plateaus, shells, baskets, figurettes,
vases holding flowers, dolphins, Tritons, swan, sea animals (in
crockery), roses which open and disclose the sugarplums, sprays of
coral, and gilt conch-shells, are all pretty, especially when filled
with flowers.
Baskets in various styles are often seen. One tied with a broad
ribbon at the side is very useful as a work-basket afterwards.
Open-work baskets, lined with crimson or scarlet or pink or blue
plush, with another lining of silver paper to protect the plums, are
very tasteful. A very pretty basket is one hung between three gilt
handles or poles, and filled with flowers or candies. Silvered and
gilded beetles, or butterflies, fastened on the outside, have a
fanciful effect.
Moss-covered trays holding dried grasses and straw, and piles of
chocolates that suggest ammunition, are decorative and effective.
Wheelbarrows of tiny size for flowers are a favorite conceit. They
are made of straw-work, entirely gilded, or painted black or brown,
and picked out with gold; or perhaps pale green, with a bordering of
brown. A very pretty one may be made of old cigarbox wood; on one
side a monogram painted in red and gold, on the other a spray of
autumn leaves. Carved-wood barrows fitted with tin inside may hold a
growing plant--stephanotis, hyacinths, ferns, ivy, or any other
hardy plant--and are very pleasing souvenirs.
The designs for reticules and _chtelaines_ are endless. At a very
expensive luncheon, to which twenty-four ladies sat down, a silk
reticule a foot square, filled with Maillard's confections and
decorated with an exquisitely painted landscape effect, was
presented to each guest. These lovely reticules may be any shape,
and composed of almost any material. A very handsome style is an
eight-sided, melon-shaped bag of black satin, with a decoration of
bunches of scarlet flowers painted or embroidered. Silk braided with
gold, brocade, and plush combined, and Turkish towelling with an
_applique_ of brilliant color, are all suitable and effective.
In the winter a shaded satin muff, in which was hidden a
_bonbonniere_, was the present that made glad the hearts of twenty-
eight ladies. These are easily made in the house, and a plush muff
with a bird's head is a favorite "favor."
A pair of bellows is a pretty and inexpensive _bonbonniere_. They
can be bought at the confectioner's, and are more satisfactory than
when made at home; but if one is ingenious, it is possible, with a
little pasteboard, gilt paper, silk, and glue, to turn out a very
pretty little knickknack of this kind. However, the French do these
things so much better than we do that a lady giving a lunch-party
had better buy all her favors at some wholesale place. There is a
real economy in buying such articles at the wholesale stores, for
the retail dealers double the price.
Bronze, iron, and glass are all pressed into the service, and
occasionally we have at a lunch a whole military armament of cannon,
muskets, swords, bronze helmets, whole suits of armor, tazza for
jewellery, miniature cases, inkstands, and powder-boxes, all to hold
a few sugar-plums.
At a christening party all the favors savor of the nursery--splendid
cradles of flowers, a bassinet of brilliante trimmed with ribbons
for a _bonbonniere_, powder-boxes, puffs, little socks filled with
sugar instead of little feet, an infant's cloak standing on end
(really over pasteboard), an infant's hood, and even the flannel
shirt has been copied. Of course the baptismal dish and silver cup
are easily imitated.
Perfumery is introduced in little cut-glass bottles, in leaden tubes
like paint tubes, in perfumed artificial flowers, in _sachets_ of
powder, and in the handles of fans.
Boxes of satinwood, small wood covers for music and blotting cases,
painted by hand, are rather pretty favors. The plain boxes and book
covers can be bought and ornamented by the young artists of the
family. Nothing is prettier than an owl sitting on an ivy vine for
one of these. The owl, indeed, plays a very conspicuous part at the
modern dinner-table and luncheon. His power of looking wise and
being foolish at the same time fits him for modern society. He
enters it as a pepper-caster, a feathered _bonbonniere_, a pickle-
holder (in china), and is drawn, painted, and photographed in every
style. A pun is made on his name: "Should owled acquaintance be
forgot?" etc. He is a favorite in jewellery, and is often carved in
jade. Indeed, the owl is having his day, having had the night always
to himself.
The squirrel, the dog, "the frog that would a-wooing go," the white
duck, the pig, and the mouse, are all represented in china, and in
the various silks and gauzes of French taste, or in their native
skins, or in any of the disguises that people may fancy. Bears with
ragged staffs stand guard over a plate of modern faience, as they do
over the gates of Warwick Castle. Cats mewing, catching mice,
playing on the Jews-harp, elephants full of choicest confectionery,
lions and tigers with chocolate insides, and even the marked face
and long hair of Oscar Wilde, the last holding within its ample
cranium caraway-seeds instead of brains, played their part as
favors.
The green enamelled dragon-fly, grasshoppers and beetles, flies and
wasps, moths and butterflies, bright-tinted mandarin ducks,
peacocks, and ostriches, tortoises cut in pebbles or made of
pasteboard, shrimps and crabs, do all coldly furnish forth the
lunch-table as favors and _bonbonnieres_. Then come plaster or
pasteboard gondolas, skiffs, wherries, steamships, and ferry-boats,
all made with wondrous skill and freighted with caramels. Imitation
rackets, battledoor and shuttlecock, hoops and sticks, castanets,
cup and ball, tambourines, guitars, violins, hand-organs, banjos,
and drums, all have their little day as fashionable favors.
Little statuettes of Kate Greenaway's quaint children now appear as
favors, and are very charming. Nor is that "flexible curtain," the
fan, left out. Those of paper, pretty but not expensive, are very
common favors. But the opulent offer pretty satin fans painted with
the recipient's monogram, or else a fan which will match flowers and
dress. Fans of lace, and of tortoise-shell and carved ivory and
sandal-wood, are sometimes presented, but they are too ostentatious.
Let us say to the givers of feasts, be not too magnificent, but if
you give a fan, give one that is good for something, not a thing
which breaks with the "first fall."
A very pretty set of favors, called "fairies," are little groups of
children painted on muslin, with a background of ribbon. The muslin
is so thin that the children seem floating on air. The lady's name
is also painted on the ribbon.
We find that favors for gentlemen, such as sunflowers, pin-cushions,
small purses, scarf-pins, and sleeve-buttons, are more useful than
those bestowed upon ladies, but not so ornamental.
Very pretty baskets, called _huits_ (the baskets used by the vine-
growers to carry earth for the roots of the vines), are made of
straw ornamented with artificial flowers and grasses, and filled
with bonbons.
Little Leghorn hats trimmed with pompons of muslin, blue, pink, or
white, are filled with natural flowers and hung on the arm. These
are a lovely variation.
Fruits--the apple, pear, orange, and plum, delightfully realistic--
are made of composition, and open to disclose most unexpected seeds.
At trowel, a knife, fork, and spoon, of artistically painted wood,
and a pair of oars, all claim a passing notice as artistic
novelties.
Bags of plush, and silk embroidered with daisies, are very handsome
and expensive favors; heavily trimmed with lace, they cost four
dollars apiece, but are sold a little cheaper by the dozen. Blue
sashes, with flowers painted on paper (and attached to the sash a
paper on which may be written the menu), cost eighteen dollars a
dozen. A dish of snails, fearfully realistic, can be bought for one
dollar a plate, fruits for eighteen dollars a dozen, and fans
anywhere from twelve up to a hundred dollars a dozen.
A thousand dollars is not an unusual price for a luncheon, including
flowers and favors, for eighteen to twenty-four guests. Indeed, a
luncheon was given last winter for which the hostess offered a prize
for copies in miniature of the musical instruments used in
"Patience." They were furnished to her for three hundred dollars.
The names of these now almost obsolete instruments were rappaka,
tibia, archlute, tambour, kiffar, quinteme, rebel, tuckin,
archviola, lyre, serpentine, chluy, viola da gamba, balalaika, gong,
ravanastron, monochord, shopkar. The "archlute" is the mandolin.
They represented all countries, and were delicate specimens of toy
handiwork.
We have not entered into the vast field of glass, china, porcelain,
_cloisonn_, Dresden, faience jugs, boxes, plates, bottles, and
vases, which are all used as favors. Indeed, it would be impossible
to describe half of the fancies which minister to modern
extravagance. The _bonbonniere_ can cost anything, from five to five
hundred dollars; fifty dollars for a satin box filled with candy is
not an uncommon price. Sometimes, when the box is of oxidized
silver--a quaint copy of the antique from Benvenuto Cellini--this
price is not too much; but when it is a thing which tarnishes in a
month, it seems ridiculously extravagant.
We have seen very pretty and artistic cheap favors. Reticules made
of bright cotton, or silk handkerchiefs with borders; cards painted
by the artists of the family; palm-leaf fans covered with real
flowers, or painted with imitation ones; sunflowers made of
pasteboard, with portfolios behind them; pretty little parasols of
flowers; Little Red Riding-hood, officiating as a receptacle for
stray pennies; Japanese teapots, with the "cozy" made at home;
little doyleys wrought with delightful designs from "Pretty Peggy,"
and numberless other graceful and charming trifles.