Vintage Stratton Canette Powder Compact, Black Art Deco Enamel Top, Burgundy Enamel Sides, Heart Sifter Tab, Original Brush and Puff, Made in England, 1960s

The heart tab. The brush. The Canette.

The Stratton Canette is one of the named compact forms that collectors look for specifically: a rectangular compact built around Stratton's signature mechanical sifter system, distinguished by the small heart-shaped gold-tone release tab set into the base section that lifts the sifter to access the powder well beneath. It is a small detail and a completely characteristic one. If you know Stratton, you know the heart tab. If you find one, you know what you have.

This one is dressed in one of the more dramatic colourways Stratton used for the Canette: a black enamel top face carrying bold Art Deco sweeping lines in white and gold, broad curves moving across the black ground like the arc of a fan or the sweep of a wave. The border, sides, and interior lining are in deep burgundy-oxblood enamel, the gold-tone hardware sitting between the black and the burgundy. The Stratton script signature is embossed into the gold-tone crosshatch engine-turning on the reverse, centred and legible. The interior carries the burgundy-and-gold Stratton S cartouche tab at the hinge end and the full-width mirror in the lid.

The original pale-bristle brush is present and appears unused. The original powder puff is in the base section, terracotta-salmon in tone, worn at the edges with age. The sifter mesh is intact beneath.

The Particulars:

• Maker: Stratton, Made in England; script signature embossed to engine-turned gold-tone reverse
• Form: Stratton Canette, rectangular powder compact with heart-shaped gold sifter release tab
• Exterior: Black enamel top face with Art Deco sweeping white and gold line design; deep burgundy-oxblood enamel sides and border; gold-tone clasp and hardware
• Interior: Burgundy enamel lining, full-width mirror to lid, Stratton S cartouche tab to hinge end, heart sifter release tab to base, mesh sifter intact
• Included: Original pale-bristle brush (appears unused), original powder puff (worn at edges)
• Not included: Outer retail case
• Condition: Age wear to clasp and gold-tone rim band. Gold plate flaking visible at hinge barrels. Please review all photos carefully before purchasing.
• Period: 1960s

The heart tab opens it. The colourway closes the deal.

Arrives tucked inside its own treasure coffin and carefully wrapped as a vault relic, ready for gifting or keeping.