Description:
An extremely rare writing box, made as a special commission, featuring Masonic symbols on a parquetry background. 

Origin: England, Devonshire.

Circa: 1840

Materials: Walnut, ebony, box, amboyna, and other woods.

Size: 35 cm by 24cm by 13.5cm: 13.8 inches by 9.5 inches by 5.3 inches.

Condition: Good,  replacement lock and writing surface.

The interior of the box. The velvet writing surface is a replacement.

There are documents under the flap.

 Top part space for more documents.

 The front of the box is exquisitely figured and inlaid with a boxwood ebony framing. the escutcheon depicts a compass and setsquare. These were the traditional tools used by masons to lay out a building. They were used symbolically by Freemasons. 

 The ebony inlaid compass and setsquare within a six pointed star is very finely executed.

The parquetry in native and exotic imported hard woods.

 Detail of the compass and setsquare inlay

 There is a hard wooden edging to the box which protects and rounds the edges.

 Corner detail: the compass and setsquare motif is repeated at the corners.

 Cross banded surround in striking figure of amboyna. 

In the box there is a folder of Masonic documents dating from the 1860's

Some are detailed below.

From the documents it would seem that this box belonged to  Henry Walrond  of Dufford House Devonshire. I did a quick internet search of the names on the documents and found the following:

http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/

The Book of Cullompton, compiled by the People of the Parish (Halsgrove Press, Tiverton, 2001)

 

WALROND, Edmund

Of Dufford - mentioned in Deeds

1700s?

43-44

WALROND, Henry

Of Bradfield; tenant of Walronds

1690

43

WALROND, John N.

Captain of Upper Culm Rifle Corps

1859

9

WALROND, Lionel

Curator of Stroud museum; member of Ilminster branch of Walrond family

2000s

44

"ORDO AB CHAO"

"SUPREME COUNCIL OF THE XXXIII. DEGREE"

 The document has a red wax seal bearing the same double headed eagle.

A

"The oldest Lodge in Devonshire, Saint John The Baptist No. 39 was awarded its jewel to celebrate the centenary of its founding, in 1832 but it was not until 1864, and only with the assistance of the then deputy Provincial Grand Master Reverend John Huyshe, that it was actually presented. This delay was probably the result of an outbreak of Cholera in Exeter in 1832 and a suspension of meetings of the Lodge for eighteen months over this infectious period during which time the awarding of the centenary jewel was obviously forgotten about and not resurrected until much later.  

"The Reverend John Huyshe succeeded Viscount Ebrington as Provincial Grand Master and was installed in 1866. John Huyshe had already been Provincial Grand Master of Mark Master Masons and also Grand Superintendent of the Province for the Holy Royal Arch so was well knowledgeable about the governance of freemasonry. His absorbing ambition was to enhance the respectability of freemasonry by encouraging Lodges to find their own premises away from the inns and taverns where they frequently met and to encourage members to return to their families after their meetings. 

 http://www.pgldevonshire.org.uk/history.htm 

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