Description:
A brass bound solid rosewood  writing box with side drawer, secret drawers, countersunk carrying handles a pair of inkwells .

The use of solid wood in a box of English form points to a Chinese piece made for an English client.

Origin: China

Circa: 1820

Materials: Rosewood brass.

Size: 49cm by 26.5cm by 19.5 cm: 19.3 inches by 10.4 inches by 7.4 inches.

Condition: good with working lock and key

The box has a velvet covered writing  surface and compartments for pens.

 The box has a pair of original inkwells.

 There are compartments for papers under the flaps.

  There are secret drawers hidden under the pen compartments concealed behind a sprung panel. The catch is released by inserting a sharp implement through a hole.

The solid wood construction is clear in this detail photo showing the half blind dovetail construction used in the drawer. 

The wood of the front of the drawer is the same rosewood as the rest of the outside of the box but the sides are made of eucalyptus wood with its distinctive smell.

There is a sprung catch which secures the side drawer when the box is closed. This mechanism is unusual.  

 The top is made of two panels of wood The grain pattern indicates that they are subsequent slices. The figure and rich patina are particularly attractive. 

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