2-839-774 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Needle case with ballooning scenes, late 18th-early 19th century. The first successful flights in hot air balloons in the 1780s triggered a craze for 'ballooniana'. Enameled brass needle case with lid. Cylindrical with rounded ends. Red with four ballooning scenes, two on the base and two smaller scenes on the lid. Each scene is different, but they all show people on the ground looking at balloons in the sky. There are white embellishments around each scene and on the red background.