Antique Webster Sterling Silver and Cut Crystal Dresser Jar or Trinket Box, Attributed to store Edith Wharton, c. 1915

Antique dresser jar with sterling lid is attributed to having been owned by Edith Wharton. I purchased this dresser box from the estate of Colleen "Koky" Dishon in Galien, Michigan, just shortly after her death. Koky was the first female editor of the Tempo section of the Chicago Tribune and something of a legend in her own right. Her biography is here: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2004-12-29-0412290327-story.html

Dishon was an avid collector of all things literary and also American primitives. While she did not know Edith Wharton, this powder box, I was told, was purchased by Dishon and held a small scrap of a paper saying, "Edith Wharton's store powder box". Wharton's family, the Joneses, were New York "aristocracy" and the source behind the phrase "keeping up with the Joneses" who were at one time the wealthiest in America for real estate holdings. Koky Dishon held a first edition copy of the AGE OF INNOCENCE, signed by Wharton that was auctioned at the estate. Someone else won the book, I acquired the powder box. I have no other paper to confirm my story.

Powder box stands 3 1/4" by 4" in diameter. Gorgeous floral and laurel wreath pattern on the sterling lid with brilliant cut astors on the sides. This box represents two powerhouses in American journalism and literature.

Don't truly powerful women always do it with style!