Description:
Brass bound flame mahogany writing box of dovetail construction and restrained high quality.  Inside there is a sloping leather writing surface (modern replacement). There are further compartments for papers and writing implements. There is a nest of secret drawers hidden behind a panel.

The box features: 

•  Bramah lock 
•  liftout pen-tray, 
•  inkwells, 
• secret drawers hidden behind a sprung panel with an unusual release mechanism.
• separately locked flap.
• brass plate with Amorial achievement of  the Prowse family of Northampton and initials "W J P"
•   one of the secret drawers containing a piece of velvet and a note recording the velvet as being : “Piece of the covering of the late Princess Charlotte’s coffin.”

Origin: UK

Circa: 1820

Materials:

Size: 50.4 cm by 26.7 cm by 19 cm: 19.8 inches by 10.5 inches by 7.4 inches.

Condition: good overall working locks and keys, replacement embossed leather skiver.

 

 

The contents of the secret drawer taken with the the engraved crest on the top brought the history of the early 19th Century alive. I am grateful to John Bell for doing much of this research.  The story which emerges connects William Jeffery Prowse to Dr William Henry Nevelle, Household Surgeon to the Princess Charlotte and the Royal Family. Also in the story are John Keats and the Tavistock Hotel in Covent Garden.

 

Inside the box has a sloping writing surface and compartments for paper pens, inkwells and other writing accessories. The embossed writing surface is a modern replacement.

WILLIAM JARVIS PROWSE, son to WILLIAM  PROWSE and MARY JARVIS, born 18th January 1833. He resided in CHARLTON in Devon. and was a distinguished author. The box may have been in the ownership/used by both.

 

 

WILLIAM JEFFEREY PROWSE (1836-1870), Born at Torquay on May 6, 1836, he inherited his literary talents and tastes from his mother, who was an intimate friend of John KEATS, and published a volume of poems, as Marianne JEFFEREY.  His parents dying while he was yet a child, he was adopted by his uncle, Mr. John Sparkes PROWSE, a notary-public , and ship-broker, residing at Greenwich. . . . . http://www.windeatt.f2s.com/poets/Prowse_W_J.htm

 

The box is made from solid mahogany the grain of the top is "flame" at it best: striations of red which almost flicker in the light.

There are compartments for papers under the flaps. The wood is lightly finished which helps to date the box.

The box retains a pair of original faceted glass inkwells with screw tops.

The pen-tray is made of rosewood and beautifully structured.

The flap has a separate lock which is self locking. 

 Beneath the writing surface there is a compartment for storing paper.  There is a nest of secret drawers hidden behind a sprung panel. The release mechanism is unusual. To open, first take out the inkwell then squeeze the inner wall between the thumb and fingers. 

 

 The brass catch shows in this photograph.

The  secret drawers are of fine dovetail construction.

The cabinet makers marking lines are still visible. 

They are both semi blind dovetail: they do not appear on the surface.

There is a description of dovetails in another box at: http://www.hygra.com/wb/wbmabrstrp.htm 

For strength the brass hinges are wider than on many boxes. There is a further piece of brass inlaid into the facing of the flap to accommodate the hinge when the flaps are open. 

An interesting feature is that iron screws are used at this date.

There are further pieces of brass inlaid into the corners. These are primarily structural.  

The Tavistock Hotel mentioned has nothing to do with the hotel which still exists. "The present Tavistock Hotel, which for many years has enjoyed a great amount of popularity amongst gentlemen of the old fashioned school, and who prefer the quiet and unpretentious hotel life of their fathers to the tinseled palatial halls which have recently sprung up over London." The Tavistock was one of several quasi private hotels in the neighborhood, which flourished during the middle of the 19th century. By 1900 it had fallen on hard times, and when the main lease ended in 1928, it was demolished. 1801 The Tavistock Hotel was established by Thomas Harrison, as a flowering of his old Coffee House. He died in 1841, and the hotel, which occupied Nos 6 and 7 of the Piazza, and the greater part of Nos 8 and 9, passed into the joint possession of Robert Hawkes, Frederick and Stephen Harrison, and Charles Bingley. 1867 In this year, the old red brick frontage facing the Covent Garden Market was stuccoed. The history of the Tavistock Hotel has been written by Mr C.E.Pascoe in 1887, in celebration of its hundredth anniversary. The Hair Dressing saloon at the Tavistock was the haunt of sporting and bohemian members of society, and these people would have provided cheery company for W.J.P. WILLIAM JEFFERY PROWSE It seems to me that the piece of velvet cloth was possibly delivered to William Jeffery Prowse, while he was staying at the hotel, possibly following the death of his mother or of a sister. The short biographical notes on W.J.P may show that he traveled abroad quite a lot, and he is known to have died in Nice, where he lies to this day. He was very much an invalid for most of his life. It seems that the grave monument  is now gone.

see: http://www.archive.org/stream/
coventgardenits00jacogoog
/coventgardenits00jacogoog_djvu.txt

The cloth is wrapped in a much handled and frayed piece of paper on one side it reads: 

" To
W. J. Prowse Esqr.,
Tavistock Hotel,
Covent Garden

 

"Piece of the covering of the late Princess Charlotte's coffin".

Perhaps someone will recognize the writing. 

 Inside one of the secret drawers there was a rolled packet of paper and a piece of red velvet.

 The fragment of red velvet which was in the secret drawer.

 The short hand written note was wrapped in this scrap of printed text. I have not yet identified what it is from or if it has any special significance.

 

WILLIAM JEFFEREY PROWSE (1836-1870), Born at Torquay on May 6, 1836, he inherited his literary talents and tastes from his mother, who was an intimate friend of John KEATS, and published a volume of poems, as Marianne JEFFEREY. His parents dying while he was yet a child, he was adopted by his uncle, Mr. John Sparkes PROWSE, a notary-public , and ship-broker, residing at Greenwich. . .  Romantic women poets, 1788-1848 By Andrew Ashfield page144 .

http://www.windeatt.f2s.com

/poets/Prowse_W_J.htm 

Romantic women poets, 1788-1848
By Andrew Ashfield page144 

Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales (1796-1817), portrait in oils, c. 1817 by George Dawe (1781—1829) Charlotte was a huge fan of Mozart and was infatuated with the poet and adventurer Lord Byron, commenting "something [Byron] so very much above the common sort of beauty" when she viewed his portrait. The Prince of Wales refused to recognize that his daughter was growing up. He did not allow her to frequent anything but children’s balls and also refused to increase her meager apparel stipend.  She died in childbirth. The Funeral was a huge event and has been compared to that of Diana Princess of Wales in our time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Princess_Charlotte_of_Wales.jpg 

see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Charlotte_Augusta_of_Wales 

 Detail: the spring of the sprung panel which conceals the secret drawers.

Detail: The top is inlaid with a central ornate brass cartouche. which is engraved with the crest of Prowse or Prowze. 

Out of a ducal coronet argent, a demi-lion rampant gardant of the first

with the initials W J P

Detail: the box is edged with heavy brass held in place with brass pins which are ground flat. The brass is both structural and decorative

The brass is  structural, protective, and ornamental. These boxes are constructed with dovetail joints and are built to survive the rigors of traveling.

The box has countersunk brass carrying handles.

The figure of the flame mahogany is exceptional even of the back where often less figured wood is used.

Memoirs of the life death and funeral of Her Royal Highness the Princess Dean of Windsor. Hon and Rev. Henry Lewis Hobart, D. D. Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard. The Lord Steward of his Majesty's   Household. ) Clarenceux King of Arms.  The Coronet of her late Royal Highness, borne upon a black velvet  cushion by Colonel Addenbroke Garter Principal King of Arms, bearing his scepter.  The Lord Chamberlain of his  Majesty's Household.  Supporters of the Pall, The Coffin covered with a black velvet Pall, adorned with eight escutcheons of her Royal Highness's Arms, and carried by eight Yeomen of the Guard, under a canopy of black velvet, borne by eight Gentlemen Ushers.

See Google Books

There is a picture in the Royal Collection  depicting The Funeral Procession of the Much Beloved and Regretted Princess Charlotte of Wales and of Saxe Coburg by Richard Barrett Davis. Sadly I was refused permission to republish the image here! This is a screen shot of their page which is clearly in the public domain. I was given permission to publish a link to the picture on their site.

Link to Royal Collection. 

 

It appears that Marianne Prowse was deeply in love with John Keats, but he is said to have had no extra special feelings for her. They were, however, intimate friends, and she remained devoted to the memory of Keats until the day she died. Various examples of the handwriting of Keats can be found on the web. There has been an exciting development, which links Marianne Prowse to Dr William Henry Neville of Esher, Surrey, Household Surgeon to the Princess Charlotte and the Royal Family. It works like this: John Keats had a good friend called Mary Frogley, to whom he wrote some poems. She was courted by a flatmate of Keats, but she married Dr William Henry Neville (above). John Keats makes mention of the death of the Princess Charlotte in one of his letters. John Keats visited Marianne Prowse (nee Jeffery) at her home in Devon. It is probable that Keats was given the scrap of material by Mary Neville (she and her husband would have been present at the funeral of Princess Charlotte), and that Keats gave it to Marianne Prowse. Marianne had given him financial assistance at one time, but they were all people of magic and sensitivity.

 

The Funeral procession of Her Royal Highness the Princess Charlotte of Wales and Saxe Coburg  I have republished this image from Wikapeda. who also have another image by James Stephanoff showing the ceremony: Another image. The official position taken by the Wikimedia Foundation is that "faithful reproductions of two-dimensional public domain works of art are public domain, and that claims to the contrary represent an assault on the very concept of a public domain" This work is in the public domain in the United States, and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or fewer.

 

Black and white print of the picture by Richard Barett Davis which is in the Royal collection..