Vintage Stratton Carryall Compact Set, Engine-Turned & Scrollwork Gold-Tone, Cigarette Compartment, Powder Section, Lipstick Holder, RAF Sweetheart Brooch, Made in England, Mid-Century

A Stratton carryall. A sweetheart badge. Everything still inside.

Stratton of England made the finest mid-century British vanity compacts, and the carryall was their most ambitious form: a single rectangular case carrying a cigarette compartment, a powder section, a full-length mirror, and an attached lipstick holder, all in one gold-tone object small enough to fit in an evening bag. This one is complete. The lipstick is still in the holder. The powder puff is still in the base. The elasticated cigarette retainer is still functional. This is not a stripped or worn example: it is a found set, intact.

The exterior carries two completely different decorative treatments on opposite faces. The front face is fine engine-turning in a tight geometric guilloche grid, the gold-tone metal giving the pattern a warm depth and shimmer. The reverse face is entirely covered in dense scrollwork engraving: acanthus and foliate decoration, hand-chased or die-engraved, running wall to wall across the surface. The interior of the base repeats the scrollwork pattern throughout. The contrast between the two exterior faces, geometric engine-turning on one side, organic scrollwork on the other, is unusual and makes this a more considered object than the standard single-treatment Stratton compact.

The attached lipstick holder is a cylindrical gold-tone case on a hinged side bracket, the cap removing to reveal the original orange-coral lipstick bullet still inside. The interior of the compact lid carries the maker's stamp: STRATTON MADE IN ENGLAND in small capital letters, the confirmation of British manufacture and the Stratton name.

Accompanying the compact is a **Royal Air Force sweetheart brooch**: the classic RAF wings in silver-tone metal, the central roundel bearing RAF in raised letters, surmounted by the Royal Crown with red and white enamel, the laurel wreath border in green enamel. Sweetheart brooches were given as tokens by serving RAF personnel to partners and family during and after the Second World War. The pairing of a luxury Stratton carryall with an RAF sweetheart badge speaks to the story of whoever carried this: a woman who kept both close.

The Particulars:

• Maker: Stratton, Made in England, stamped to interior lid
• Type: Carryall compact set with attached lipstick holder
• Compact exterior front: Fine engine-turned guilloche grid pattern, gold-tone
• Compact exterior reverse: All-over acanthus scrollwork engraving, gold-tone
• Compact interior: Cigarette compartment with elasticated gold-tone retainer strap and mirror, powder section with original puff, full-width lid mirror
• Lipstick holder: Cylindrical, hinged side bracket, original coral lipstick bullet present
• Included: RAF sweetheart brooch, silver-tone wings, RAF roundel, Royal Crown with red and white enamel, green enamel laurel wreath
• Period: Mid-century, 1940s-1960s
• Condition: Excellent vintage condition. Compact functions correctly. Lipstick and puff original and present. Please review all photos carefully before purchasing.

The compact carries the lipstick. The brooch carries the story.

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