The Hygra Antique Boxes at the Sign of the Hygra
2 Middleton Road, London, E8 4BL, UK.
(by appointment only)   
PHONE: 00 44 (0)20 7254 7074 
News    Buying   email History of boxes The Schiffer Book |


Sewing box 

writing-boxes

jewelry-boxes

tea caddies

Anglo-Indian

Chinese- export

penwork

Tunbridgeware

papier-mâché

Face screens

Snuff boxes 

terms

Advanced Search

Youtube Channel

contents

www.hygra.com    Antique Boxes and tea caddies.
writing-boxes

jewelry-boxes 

tea caddies

sewing-boxes

contents


Back to main page and full description
 

| thumbnail index  | slide show   

This page is in preparation.  When it is done it will be posted on Youtube Channel and embedded here.

This below is something else.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2aI5tDGrPI

 

Description:
Ref:   140fs    http://hygra.com/face/140fs  

Antique straw-work Face Screen.

This screen was probably made by a Napoleonic prisoner of war in the early years of the 19th century. It is extremely rare. The surround is made by using straw at different angles to create a symmetrical pattern by catching the light from varied perspectives. The outer part of leaf and berry uses straight and shaped straw to define the design.

The central picture is an astonishing feat of skill and artistry. It depicts figures from Aesop’s fables, a fox and a stork in the landscape. Some of the straw is tinged with green and darker brown, but the perception is of a great variation of colour. Sunrise is suggested by using straight pieces of light straw at an angle, while the earth is made up of small pieces of differing shades at different angles to differentiate flat earth from mountains. The trees are made up of such tiny pieces that I needed a magnifying glass to even see them. The foliage looks completely natural and light, thin branches visible here and there. The animals too are made up of tiny pieces, the feathers being especially well defined. Such fine work is rarely found even on boxes which are in greater numbers than other objects. The person who made this must have been a master straw-work artist before his incarceration. This is probably the reason he was trusted with a commission for an object which was to be publicly used.  

The back is also in straw-work, the symmetrical pattern more complex than it first appears with the round circles breaking the austerity of the pattern. 

 The handle is in bone.

Origin: UK;  Circa:1800 ; Materials: wood, straw, bone.

Size:  Screen  21.1 cm wide by 27.2 cm; handle  7.7 cm long:  8.3 inches wide by  10.7 inches; handle  3  inches.

Condition:  Please refer to the above photographs for details of condition.

Keywords: Hygra.com, Antique box, Antique Face Screen, fan, fire screen, Napoleonic prisoner of war, Aesop’s fables, a fox and a stork in the landscape, straw work, straw marquetry, parquetry,

Request current  list of available sewing boxes with prices.
Request current  list of available writing boxes with prices.

Request current  list of available jewelry boxes with prices.

Request current  list of available tea caddies with prices.

Request current  list of available Face Screens with prices.

boxes@hygra.com

Bookmark and Share

| hygra.com  | Buying boxesContact us | email  |The Schiffer BookAdvanced Search

All text and images and linked images are © 1999-2015 Antigone Clarke and Joseph O'Kelly. If you require any further information on permitted use, or a licence to republish any material, email us at copyright@hygra.com