Description:
WB166: Figured mahogany writing box inlaid with brass accents and rounded edges opening to a writing tablet still retaining is Tyrian purple velvet surface and having compartments for writing tools and further compartments under the sloping writing surface for storing paper. Circa 1825.

Origin: UK

Circa: 1825

Materials:

Size:  35 cm by 23.3 cm by 12.3 cm: 13.8 inches by 9.2 inches by 4.8 inches.

Condition: good clean, some wear to the writing surface, working lock and key; see images.

The writing surface is covered in velvet which is Tyrian Purple. 

See: 
hygra.com/uk/wb2/wb136/index.htm#02 

It was one of the most fashionable colors in the Victorian period. A synthetic dye was not developed until the begining of the 20th c.  

The box has a filet of solid mahogany under the saw cut veneer of highly figured closely grained mahogany. The escutcheon and inlay lines are brass. The construction design is to achieve the maximum visual appeal in a  box which is also structurally stable. 

Compartments under the sloping writing surface for storing paper.

 The figure and color of the mahogany especially of the  the top is particularly attractive.