Vintage Baron Stratton Gold-Tone Musical Powder Compact, Ballet Design, Reuge Ste-Croix Swedish Rhapsody

A vintage Baron Stratton musical powder compact with a ballet-themed lid and a Swiss Reuge Sainte-Croix musical movement, playing “Swedish Rhapsody.”

Baron was one of the names associated with musical vanity ware sold alongside Stratton’s better-known British compact ranges. These larger musical models were constructed differently from an ordinary powder compact, with the additional depth of the case accommodating a mechanical music-box movement beneath the cosmetic section.

This example has a gold-tone case decorated with a ballerina/ballet scene. Inside are the mirror, powder compartment, mesh sifter and powder puff.

The musical mechanism is marked Reuge Ste-Croix and is in working order, playing Swedish Rhapsody. Reuge, based in Sainte-Croix in Switzerland’s traditional music-box making region, became particularly well known for precision mechanical musical movements used in music boxes and luxury novelty objects.

The compact shows some marks from previous use and handling, but importantly the vanity fittings remain present and the Reuge movement is working.

The combination of the Baron Stratton name, ballet decoration, Swiss Reuge mechanism and identified “Swedish Rhapsody” tune makes this a particularly interesting example of the musical powder compacts produced during the mid-20th century.