William IV Rosewood basket form card tray, complete with swing handle, scalloped edges, sitting on scroll feet, circa 1840
Size in inches: 1.75 h x 8.75 w x 5.25 d
M20322

Through the Georgian, Regency and Victorian eras, the etiquette of ‘calling’ was an essential part of invitations, introductions and visits. Calling cards became an indispensable accessory for any upper-class lady or gentleman of society to announce their presence in town, or call upon a friend. Upon arriving at a residence, the visitor, or their groom, would present the calling card on a tray to the butler or maid, who would in turn transport the card to their mistress. The card would either be returned with regrets, or accepted, whereupon the guest would be admitted. How a card was presented or folded was complex and layered in meaning, and books on manners in the 19th century contained entire chapters devoted to nothing but the correct use of calling cards. Ladies cards were larger than gentlemen’s, who carried them in their breast pocket, and elaborate calling card cases and card trays became popular and a sign of status.

“To the unrefined or underbred, the visiting card is but a trifling and insignificant bit of paper; but to the cultured disciple of social law, it conveys a subtle and unmistakable intelligence. Its texture, style of engraving, and even the hour of leaving it combine to place the stranger, whose name it bears, in a pleasant or a disagreeable attitude, even before his manners, conversation and face have been able to explain his social position. The higher the civilization of a community, the more careful it is to preserve the elegance of its social forms. It is quite as easy to express a perfect breeding in the fashionable formalities of cards, as by any other method, and perhaps, indeed, it is the safest herald of an introduction for a stranger. Its texture should be fine, its engraving a plain script, its size neither too small, so that its recipients shall say to themselves, ‘A whimsical person,’ nor too large to suggest ostentation. Refinement seldom touches extremes in anything.”

— Excerpt from “Our Deportment Or the Manners, Conduct and Dress of the Most Refined Society” by John H. Young (1881)