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Description:
Ref: 697SB
http://hygra.com/box/697SB-cut-steel 
Antique Regency shaped fully fitted rosewood sewing box the outside decorated with diamond faceted steel work decoration.  The inside is finished in blue paper and silk. The lid is lined with ruched silk framed by a plain border. There is a  document wallet behind. The compartmentalized  lift out tray has  four supplementary lids  covered in brocaded silk with decorative pulls.    The edges and partitions are  accented with cast pewter bead work.  The box has original period  steel and  embossed  and  chased silver sewing tools. These include  scissors with  sheath, stiletto, a combined wax-spoon and tweezers, a pin cushion in the form of  a wicker basket tape-measure and thimble. Circa 1810. 

Origin: UK ;  Circa: 1810 ; Materials: .

Size:  28 cm wide by 20 cm by 14 cm:  11  inches wide by 7.9   inches by 5.5  inches.

Condition: good original overall; working lock and key; see images

Keywords: Regency, sewing box, silk, rosewood, cut steel, Woodstock, faceted steel,  Reinhold Rucker Angerstein, Torston Berg, hygra, hygra.com

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Many features  such as the rectangular holes in the lock plated point to this box having made in the UK. During the 18th and early 19th C the faceted steel nails were exported to France and employed by the Palais Royal makers: see: http://hygra.com/uk/jb2/jb174/

 

The nails used in the decoration each have facets cut into their heads. The handle too is of cut steel.

Today few have  heard of the remarkable 18th century polished steelwork for which Woodstock was once famous. It was reputedly made from horseshoe nails reworked to make delicate faceted studs, cut like diamonds and highly polished they were used to decorate watch chains, buckles, scissors, buttons, and other items. Cut-steel short swords were particularly sought after. Sold locally, but also in London its international reputation was spread by fashionable tourists visiting Blenheim Palace.  In 1742 Horace Walpole sent Woodstock steel wares to the British Consul in Florence requesting that they be given as diplomatic gifts. In 1759 buckles were ordered for the King of Prussia and in 1768 the King of Denmark, on a visit to Blenheim, also bought steel. The early 18th century origins of the industry are obscure and within less than a hundred years it had disappeared entirely in the face of competition from the Birmingham manufacturers. see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/Ic0jSRG8QaOBdTDQCaxEIw

One of the best accounts I have found of steel working is by Reinhold Rucker Angerstein. He seems have been an eighteenth-century industrial spy.  He recorded his findings and detailed observations in illustrated diaries and notebooks.   A translation of the Diary by Torston Berg  and completed his son, Peter was published by the National Museum of Science & Industry in 2001 ISBN 1 900747243.
There is a preview of the book at: Google Books.

Each nail was held in a sort of pin vice and the facets were cut in.

" For the polishing, white whetstone from the Levant and oil is first used then emery mixed with oil, and finally, tin oxide with good spirits. The emery and tin oxide are applied with special wooden sticks, but the last polishing is carried out by rubbing with the palm of the hand and fine tin oxide.

"I was told that it requires two weeks' work for one person to make a pair of buckles costing 2 guineas."

There are examples of cut steel jewelry at: http://www.historywebsite.co.uk/Museum/metalware/steel/steel2.htm 

 Although difficult and time consuming to work cut steel work had the advantage that the raw material was comparatively inexpensive.

The carrying handle is both wrought and cut. The pillars are turned and faceted. Even the  plate has its edges carefully cut. The steel is all polished and case hardened. It would have been easier to work the steel while soft. Steel is softened by allowing it to cool slowly. 

The use of steel as a medium of applied art was developed in Tula , in Russia , which already had a long tradition of metalworking, mainly for armory. Under the auspices of Catherine II, steel became a medium for fashioning both domestic and personal ornaments. In sewing it was used both for chatelaines and tools. The diamond faceted, jewel like steel pins were adopted by French workers for the fine Palais Royal boxes and to a lesser extent for other boxes.

This form of decoration was sparingly adopted in England , although, ironically, the steel heads were exported to France from the Northern English towns of Wolverhampton and Birmingham and from Woodstock in Oxfordshire. Perhaps it was the expressed realization of how much an old nail was worth once it was converted into a cut steel ornament, which put off the English; they preferred to sell their old nails to the French.

 

There are examples of cut steel jewelry at: http://www.historywebsite.co.uk/Museum/metalware/steel/steel2.htm 

 Although difficult and time consuming to work cut steel work had the advantage that the raw material was comparatively inexpensive.

The carrying handle is both wrought and cut. The pillars are turned and faceted. Even the  plate has its edges carefully cut. The steel is all polished and case hardened. It would have been easier to work the steel while soft. Steel is softened by allowing it to cool slowly. 

 

The nails sparkle. 

Photo courtesy: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
commons/9/9a/Merfamily_wedgewood_cut_steel_f&b_semivertical.jpg

Mathew Boulton  (1728-1809) made cut steel mounts for Wedgewood's blue and white jasperware buttons in the 1760s.

It is interesting to note that the polished steel nails were riveted into the back plate. This is time consuming work. But it was a high price market from relatively inexpensive ingredients. The "art" was in the  craftsmanship. 

Boulton's partnership with James Watt manufactured  hundreds of steam engines which contributed to the Industrial Revolution.

His father is recorded as having been a manufacturer of small metal products in Birmingham. 

The inside is finished in blue paper and silk. The lid is lined with ruched silk framed by a plain border. There is a  document wallet behind. The compartmentalized  lift out tray has  four supplementary lids  covered in brocaded silk with decorative pulls.    The edges and partitions are  accented with cast pewter bead work. 

Under the lift-out tray the box is lined with its original blue paper.

The compartmentalized  lift out tray has  four supplementary lids  covered in brocaded silk with decorative pulls.    The edges and partitions are  accented with cast pewter bead work.  The box has original period  steel and  embossed  and  chased silver sewing tools. These include  scissors with  sheath, stiletto, a combined wax-spoon and tweezers, a pin cushion in the form of  a wicker basket tape-measure and thimble. 

The tools include  scissors with  sheath, stiletto, a combined wax-spoon and tweezers.

The pincushion  in the form of a basket is decorated with chased embossing.

The supplementary lids have unmarked cast white metal  pulls. These are probably silver.

The underside of the pincushion is embossed with the pattern of a wicker basket.

The tape measure retains its original tape.   

 Under the lids there are compartments for thread reels.

 The underside is still decorated with its original paper.

The box stands on turned rosewood feet.