This toilet service was probably a wedding gift to Elias, Duke of Parma (1880 – 1959) and the Archduchess Maria-Anna of Austria (1882-1940), daughter of the Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen, celebrated on 25th May 1903 in Vienna.
Under Emperor Franz Joseph, the firm of Klinkosch had an importance comparable to that of Fabergé for Emperor Nicholas II. Founded by the goldsmiths J. Mayerhofer and C. Klinkosch, the firm received a silver medal in 1835 and a gold medal in 1839. Under the direction of Josef Carl Klinkosch (1822-1888) and his two sons Isidor (1852-1914) and Arthur (1854-c.1900), the firm became the most important suppliers of gold and silverware to the Imperial Court of Austria.
The firm was patronised by established European nobility as well as the new elite. Princess Thyra of Denmark (1853-1933), later Duchess of Cumberland, Princess of Hanover, Brunswick and Luneberg commissioned christening gifts for Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark. A service of plate was made for Baron Eugéne Fould and his wife Mitzi, only daughter and heiress of Baron Gustav Springer, an Austro-Hungarian industrial magnate. Klinkosch also worked in gold, creating a lavish kovsh as a wedding present from the Bulgarian prime minister Stefan Stambulov to Princess Marie-Louise of Bourbon-Parma (1870-1899) on the occasion of her marriage to Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg, Prince of Bulgaria, and from 3 April 1893 onward, King of Bulgaria. Beside this toilet service, Klinkosch also supplied the Bourbon-Parma with several commissions including plates and coffee services.