Description:
SB121: A rare fully fitted tortoiseshell sewing box of rectangular form and shaped top by Thomas Lund of Cornhill, having ivory facings, silvered hinges and lock, mother of pearl escutcheon and name plate engraved "Mrs. Brown". Inside there is a liftout tray with green and blue silk coverings and supplementary lids containing turned and carved mother of pearl spools (8) and other sewing tools. The inside the lid is covered in ruched blue silk framed with a smooth silk border and contains a document wallet in the lid. Circa 1820.

Origin: UK Thomas Lund, Superior Manufactory,
56 & 57 Cornhill, London.

Circa: 1820

Materials:

Size:  30.5 cm wide by 23 cm by 15 cm:  12  inches wide by  9 inches by   6 inches.

Condition: Very good original condition overall.

Inside there is a liftout tray with green and blue silk coverings  and supplementary lids  containing  turned and carved mother of pearl spools (8) and other sewing tools.

Lund favored darker tortoiseshell than was used in the 18th C when many tortoiseshell boxes are Blond.  The panels of shell used to make this box are large.

There is a name plate engraved "Mrs. Brown" inlaid in the center of the top.

I can only wonder who Mrs. Brown was.

The inside the lid is covered in ruched blue silk framed with a smooth silk border and contains  a document wallet behind.

The rollers of the spools are turned ivory the bottoms and the tops are mother of pearl which has been both turned and carved.

The rollers are thicker than those of a few years later. The thread was not yet supplied on spools.

For a later spool design see: Hygra: Antique sewing box by Mechi. 

The inside the lid is covered in ruched blue silk framed with a smooth silk border and contains  a document wallet  in the lid.

A curious feature is the use of contrasting blue and green silk.

The box is labeled twice: once to bottom of the central comprtment of the tray and secondly to the document wallet in the lid:

Bought at Thos. Lund's
Superior Manufactory,
56 & 57 Cornhill, London.

The entry in the Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, 1660-1840 reads:

"Lund, Thomas, 56 and 57 Cornhill, London, portable desk manufacturer, cutler and dressing case maker (1819-39), In 1819 declared himself to be a 'cutler, manufacturer of portable desks, pens &quills, importer of filtering stones'. Two tortoise-shell tea caddies are known marked with this makers stamp. One with a domed rectangular lid and ivory feet is marked 'Lund, Maker, 57 Cornhill London' and the other an octagonal one, is stamped on the inside ivory rim 'LUND CORNHILL ST"

In our book (where this box is featured on page 116) Antique Boxes, Tea Caddies, and Society, 1700--1880 
Antigone Clarke & Joseph O'Kelly, ISBN: 0764316885 

"Lund : Thomas Lund, Cornhill, London, 1819-39 and William Lund, Fleet Street, London c 1835: a family business, of quality box makers. They worked in all materials. They worked from various addresses, within the same area. Known examples:

"An octagonal tortoiseshell tea caddy and a domed tortoiseshell caddy with ivory feet bear the T Lund mark.

"A slightly pagoda shaped top caddy standing on ivory feet and a tortoiseshell letter box bear the W. Lund mark. Darker shell than average.

"Also nécessaires and needle boxes bear the LUND mark.

"A characteristic of their caddies is an ivory "lip" around the inside of the caddy, which is slightly taller than the two internal lids, so when the lids are in place, the container is air tight, as in a humidor."

"A sewing box which bears the label of Thomas Lund. The form of the box is characteristic of this firm's work. Their caddies too were constructed along the same principles, that is very straight side lines with tops which have subtle structural variations such as the gently concave and stepped form of this box. All their boxes are faced in ivory. In the examples I have seen they also seem to favor very dark shell which combined with the straight lines gives the impression of strength. The interior is in characteristic Regency whimsy of color surprises. The spools, like the rest of the piece, are of very high quality.

See: Antique Boxes, Tea Caddies, and Society, 1700--1880 
Antigone Clarke & Joseph O'Kelly, ISBN: 0764316885  this box is featured on page 116

 Under the tray the box is lined with silvered paper.