Bibelot

1886, F. Marion Crawford, A Tale of a Lonely Parish, 2012, Project Gutenberg (Tredition Classics), unnumbered page, In her own eyes she was indeed living in a state approaching to penury, but the spectacle of her pictures, her furniture and her bibelots had impressed John with a very different idea.

Barbara's glance now falls on the bibelot, which she picks up. She catches sight of the curtain and, bibelot in hand, goes to align it. She suddenly becomes aware of the bibelot in her hand.

Excluded from the world of 'true,' high culture, women, it was claimed, loved books primarily as bibelots, like silks, lace, sconces, fans, or porcelain.