Description:
JB509: Inlaid maple Tunbridge ware box with a central book-matched medallion in burr yew, framed by by a formal design of delicate foliage, suggesting the Grecian laurel or myrtle wreath and further framed by cross bandings. Inside the box  has a liftout tray with two supplementary lids also with inlay. The edges have an inlay in alternating maple and rosewood. Circa1790

Origin: UK

Circa: 1790

Size: 26.8cm wide by 21.8 cm by 9.7cm:  10.6 inches wide by  8.6 inches by  3.8 inches.

Condition: good condition overall  with working lock and key.

Inside the box has a liftout tray with two supplementary lids which are also inlaid

The top is decorated with a central oval medallion of book-matched burr yew, framed by a formal design of delicate foliage, suggesting the Grecian laurel or myrtle wreath. This evergreen plant was symbolic of victory, achievement in the arts, immortality, and love. Sacred to Venus, it was adopted by the exponents of the neoclassical style. An Adam drawing in Sir John Soane's Museum library (London) shows this motif on a chair designed "for the Right Hon. Lord Stanley". An excellent example of an altogether classical composition, surviving in original condition.

"The term Tunbridge ware is in many people's mind synonymous with pictorial decoration executed in micro wood mosaic. This technique and style were adopted from the late 1820s onwards by craftsmen who had been working within a tradition of fine woodwork for over two hundred years. Most surviving Tunbridge ware boxes were made during the 19th century, and are decorated in the micro mosaic method. However, the craftsmen working within this tradition were striving for a union of excellence between the material, the workmanship, and the artistic design of an object, and this they achieved most successfully during the pre-mosaic period. The term must therefore embrace the earlier work, as well as the later more substantial and definable output. "

See: Antique Boxes, Tea Caddies, and Society, 1700--1880 Antigone Clarke & Joseph O'Kelly, ISBN: 0764316885

 

 

The sides are inlaid with lines in contrasting rosewood.

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Care fully selected pieces of wood  are used to achieve "art" in wood,

The edges have an inlay in alternating maple and rosewood.

The box is lined with paper.  New lift out velvet pads have been made to protect the paper and make the box ideal for keeping jewelry. 

The box is lined with paper.  New lift out velvet pads have been made to protect the paper and make the box ideal for keeping jewelry. 

Detail of one of the lids.

  The top is  framed by cross bandings of contrasting grain and colour.