Cuba Material collection · Colección Cuba Material
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"Tess" compact powder refill (polvo compacto, repuesto), shade "Bronceado"
Object/Artifact
Square cardboard box for a Tess polvo compacto (pressed face powder/concealer) refill ("repuesto"). The front is printed with the Tess emblem — a stylized serif "T" topped by a small gold crown within a black roundel, the wordmark "Tess" reserved out of a peach disc — over "POLVO COMPACTO," with "REPUESTO" at the lower right; the board is heavily toned, foxed, and stained. The refill itself is a round powder godet topped by a circular blue felt/flocked applicator pad. Per the transcription, the packaging is marked "EMPRESA CONSOLIDADA DE JABONERIA Y PERFUMERIA / HECHO EN CUBA / BRONCEADO."
2025.1.367
Belonged to Gertrudis Caraballo Gálvez. Unused.
"Polvo compacto" is pressed face powder or concealer; "repuesto" denotes a refill pan made to reload a permanent compact — a thrift-oriented format consistent with the scarcity economy of the period. The maker, the Empresa Consolidada de Jabonería y Perfumería, was the early Cuban state enterprise founded in 1961 under Ernesto "Che" Guevara's Ministry of Industries to consolidate the nationalized soap-and-perfume firms (Sabatés, Crusellas, Gravi, Agustín Reyes); it later adopted the "Suchel" commercial name (Suchel-Fragancias from 1966). A product still marked with the "Empresa Consolidada" name — rather than "Suchel" — therefore points to the 1960s, making Tess one of the earlier objects in this series. "Tess" is not listed in the later Suchel-era Cuba Material cosmetics catalog (Fantasía, Prisma, Realce, Alondra, Cirene), consistent with an earlier brand.
The Cabrera Arús family collection
Gertrudis Caraballo Gálvez collecition
2025.1
Empresa Consolidada de Jabonería y Perfumería
1960s
Cuba
Caribbean
Central America
Tess
Manufacturer: Empresa Consolidada de Jabonería y Perfumería, Ministry of Industries, Cuba (the pre-"Suchel" state enterprise) — named on the box per transcription; confirmed founding 1961 (Che Guevara) and later renamed Suchel. Date: circa 1960s; tentative within that decade. The "Empresa Consolidada" marking (not yet "Suchel") places it before the Suchel-branded items elsewhere in this series — comfortably within the collection period.
Inscription
Tess POLVO COMPACTO REPUESTO EMPRESA CONSOLIDADA DE JABONERIA Y PERFUMERIA HECHO EN CUBA BRONCEADO
Spanish
PRESSED POWDER REPLACEMENT CONSOLIDATED SOAP AND PERFUMERY ENTERPRISE MADE IN CUBA BRONZE
Box lid: Tess emblem (serif "T" + gold crown in black roundel) and wordmark "Tess"; "POLVO COMPACTO"; "REPUESTO." Per holder transcription (location on packaging not specified in images): "EMPRESA CONSOLIDADA DE JABONERIA Y PERFUMERIA / HECHO EN CUBA / BRONCEADO." No interlocked monogram noted on this object (unlike the later Suchel-line items).
1.2 cm
7 cm
7 cm
Cardboard box; powder refill godet (pressed-powder cake, not visible); circular blue felt/flocked applicator pad; powder cake.
Cardboard
Cardboard with lithographed paper (box); pressed face-powder cake (talc/binder/pigment — not visible); felt/flocked textile applicator pad; metal or plastic godet (tentative).
Fair
Gertrudis Caraballo Gálvez
owner
Havana
Cuba
Caribbean
Central America
acquisition
Shade is darker than the owner's skin. This explains why is was not used. Probably acquired due to lack of other shades or gift.