Vintage Dandy Mate Silvia Musical Camera Compact Vanity Case, Floral, Japan, 1960s
Vintage Dandy Mate Silvia Musical Camera Compact Vanity Case, Floral, Japan, 1960s
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Every vintage piece is individually checked and described, with any notable age-related wear clearly detailed and photographed. Orders are carefully packed and sent using tracked delivery, with international shipping available.
A wonderfully unusual Dandy Mate “Silvia” musical vanity compact, made in Japan and designed to resemble a miniature camera.
Dating from approximately the 1960s, the silver-tone case uses the shape and detailing of a camera as its disguise, with a colourful painted floral panel adding decoration to the front. Opened up, it reveals its real purpose as a vanity case with mirror and cosmetic fittings.
The case also contains a mechanical musical movement, giving it three distinct elements in one object: novelty camera, cosmetic compact and music box.
The original vanity fittings and musical mechanism remain present. There are marks from previous use and storage to the metalwork and interior, visible in the photographs.
Japanese novelty compacts of this period were produced in an extraordinary range of forms, and the camera construction makes this Dandy Mate particularly fun — especially alongside more conventional musical compacts.