Originally known as a vanity box in the 17th Century and was made to hold cosmetics, perfumes and exotic oils, implements for applying makeup, and a mirror. The Lowboy or Shaving Table served as models for the dressing table, some artfully engineered so that the top slides back as the front moves forward to reveal the vanity mirror and additional compartments. During the 19th Century the variety of styles of antique dressing tables increased, many were produced in Elizabethan, Rococo, Gothic, and Renaissance and Colonial revivalist styles. By the late 19th C the dressing table began to match the rest of the bedroom suite, rather than maintain its style as a unique stand-alone piece of furniture. In the very early 20th C, around the same time as the Art Deco period, dressing tables began to be synonymised with American and European luxury, glamour and wealth.
