18th Century and Earlier Boxes

Late 18th century scandinavian metal bound box circa 1790. Rare baroque inspired strong box with 3 locks on the front.  Quite likely to have been a box of some importance during i...

A Very Good Quality 18th century, Georgian Mahogany Rectangular Tea Caddy, Having Original Brass Handle To Hinged Top, Enclosing Divisions, With Unusual Glazed Panels To Front Bearin...

In this ad you get the chance to buy a beautiful hand-painted Russian lacquer box from the 1800s. It is cylindrical in shape, slightly curving in...

Mid-18th century hand painted traditional Swedish chest/box, circa 1750. Stunning traditional Swedish box hand painted in the original paintwork. Decorated on all sides with swags...

AN INDIAN ROSEWOOD AND EBONY BRASS MOUNTED BOX FOR THE ISLAMIC MARKET Malabar Coast, 18th century With a large drawer with several compartments under a lid with two com...

Silver mustard pot / Antique sterling sliver seasoning pot Antique sterling silver mustard / glass lined seasoning pot 1919 Beautifully crafted ant...

Very fine 18th century Swedish painted oval pantry box made to celebrate a wedding, depicting a loving couple in their period finery, surrounded by border of fruits and flowers, the ...

This a beautifully designed and finely crafted Neoclassical Louis XVI patch box. The finely cast lid encircles a basket of flowers surrounded by a floral cha...

Georgian Battersea enamel box from the 18th century. A beautiful fine antique English Battersea Bilston table snuff box created in the district...

A charming little sterling silver-lidded porcelain box, possibly used for snoring snuff, or for general trinkets. The silver top is decorated in Louis XVI style, and bears the Minerv...

English Pewter decorative foliage and figural tobacco jar with a molded edge lid and gadrooning rope borders, Late 18th Century.

Important Renaissance Medical Box. Spanish Or Italian Workshop, Around 1550 Renaissance Medical Casket with stepped lid and vaulted flanked dome. Polychro...

Antique late 18th century oval brass Dutch tinder / snuff / pill box, etched with phrases and a landscape of two figures plowing a field. Voor ene goede vrind / for a good friend ...

Extremely old box that is covered with leather and metal decorations. Rare find. France, circa 1600-1700 Weathered and some losses.

A late 18th century, Georgian, Mahogany tea caddy having extremely attractive inlaid conch shells, banded and strung decoration, with hinged lid enclosing lidded interior retaining partial paper foil lining. This particular caddy is relatively plain and simple in design, but the attractive inlaid decoration lifts it significantly. The condition remains relatively good and clearly it has been well loved throughout its life. Tea was a precious commodity throughout the 18th and 19th centuries and the purpose of a tea caddy was not just to preserve the and extend the life of the precious tea leaves, but also to enable the owner to lock away those aforementioned valuable tea leaves, keeping them safe from the house staffs potential wandering hands. This 18th century tea caddy...

Mid-18th century Swedish pine baroque metal bound box, circa 1740. Good quality oval baroque period decorative box. Profusely decorated and bound by iron strap work, edging and hi...

Tiffany & Co. 14 K gold compact. Marked on the interior. Very lightly used. Weight 99.3 g or 3.2 t. oz.

Leather trunk Spanish, 17th century Boiled Leather, wood and iron Measures: 22 x 53 x 32 cm. Provenance : - collection Metz-Noblat, Château de Clevant, France Rectangular trunk of the form and size of a small suitcase with wrought iron hinges and lock-plate. Wood, covered with leather, cut and embossed with every surface of the thick cow hide covered in interlace, zoomorphic features. The construction method is boiled leather, often referred to by its French translation cuir-bouilli: a process used to change flexible, vegetable-tanned leather into rigid, moulded objects. For shaping of the vegetable-tanned leather, heat and moisture were used, as indicated by the term boiled leather. No written medieval sources describing the production of decorated cuir bouilli objects survive, so knowledge of the process relies on the important studies of the Scottish leather historian John William Waterer. A large range of methods, materials and techniques could be used in various combinations. The vegetable-tanned leather, made supple with moisture and heat, was stuffed, shaped and nailed to the rigid wooden coffer support. The stuffing material was probably modeled beeswax or stearin wax. To shape the leather, to create its topography, « Cushions » were made by lacing a thread through an awl hole and attaching the flexible leather and stuffing to the rigid wooden support on the bottom. Then the decoration was done: lines were incised through the upper layer of the leather (epidermis) with different thicknesses of knives or needles. Contours were created with deep v-shaped cuts, decoration with thin incision and final details with a needle point. For the incision and pouncing stage, the leather was probably kept heated and moistened for suppleness. Once dry, the leather would be hard and rigid. the saturated leather is worked over a form, possibly even damp sand, with the pattern shaped using bone or wooden tools. Compare to metal, leather was lighter and it offered protection from cuts and punctures. Cuir bouilli objects were produced by specialist leather workers and needed skillful craftsmanship. The surface is filled with roundels shaped foliages enclosing animals, lions and peacocks. The foliate arabesques creating a vegetal connection tweet the animals create the impression of a lush verdant space . The vegetal pattern here employed in combination with geometrical pattern came from the pre-islamic artistic traditions of the Byzantine and Sasanian empires. An aspect of Islamic geometry Is the basic symmetrical repetition and mirroring of the shapes that create a sense of harmony. The decoration of this truck is inspired by the islamic « arabesque » a form of vegetal ornament composed of spirals, intertwining plants and abstract curvilinear motifs. An arabesque character is given to the birds of the decorations through extreme stylisation. This arabesque maintained the classical tradition of median symmetry, freedom in Detail and heterogeneity of ornament. The presence of the peacocks is a paradisiacal allusion: in popular Islamic literature they were among the original inhabitants of the garden of Paradise expelled with Adam and Eve. Peacock as a decorative motif may have originated in the West, despite their eastern provenance. There was an ancient belief that the flesh and feathers of peacock do not decay. This led to the peacock becoming a christian symbol for Christ’s resurrection. Renowned for their decorative wall hangings, seventeenth-century Spanish leatherworkers also produced utilitarian objects, such as this trunk. A similar trunk is on display at the Metropolitan museum of art ( 09.158.1). Related literature : Davies L. 2006. Cuir bouilli. Conservation of leather and related materials, 94-102, Oxford: elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann Grabar, Oleg. The Mediation of Ornament. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992 Gabriela Germana Roquez, "El mueble en el Peru en el siglo XVIII...

A circa 1750 American Queen Anne period cast brass tobacco or snuff box with lid. Charming and rare antique box from the New England American colonies features beveled and shaped ...

Superb late 16th century signed colonial Japanese Namban export lacquer coffer Momoyama period, late 16th/early 17th century, inscribed 'Arisato' on the bottom H. 30.5 x W. 43...

Mid 18th century swedish pine chest decorated with labyrinth circa 1730. Rare and beautiful Swedish pine chest.   Traces of original paint to the outside with decorative metal str...

Rectangular with six compartments and a handle, square legs with corner spandrels, casters.

Late 18th century Georgian Battersea enamel box. A beautiful antique English Battersea Bilston table snuff box, created in the district of Bat...

A rustic Swedish wooden box from the late 18th century, with iron accents and natural patina. Created in Sweden during the last decade of the 18th c...

A Portuguese or Cuban silver mounted mahogany knife box from the 18th century. Box with a worn painted inscription to the backside dated 1786.

Rare pair of wig boxes. Regency period. Decoration (in symmetry on both) of chinoiseries on a black lacquered background (Vernis Martin). Very elegant shape, reversed cove lid. t...

18th century Dutch brass tobacco box with hinged lid engraved with five circular medallions containing the busts of male noblemen figures with inscriptions and dates, the most recent...

19th century English Oak Liquor Bottle Case with brass Chubb lock and brass handle engraved with Capt. E.J. Ward R. A. relative to Captain Edward Jo...

Extremely Rare Regency Antique Penwork Cabinet A very interesting and rare Antique Regency Penwork Cabinet decorated with numerous scenes of exquisi...

Late 18th century Inro by Kajikawa. Edo period Beautiful inro in gold lacquer representing a continuous landscape on both sides. The interior in Nashiji lacquer. Some small traces...

French snuffbox from the late 18th century. Beautiful antique piece, made in France during the late 18th century, circa 1790's. It was carefully carved with impeccable precision, ...

A Japanese lacquered wood fubako (a box to store document or small scroll painting) circa late 18th century of Edo period. The rectangular box features a deep lid with rounded corners and recessed mid-edge and a lower box with two bronze medallion rings and tasseled silk ties. The surface of the fubako was elaborately decorated with hiramaki-e and a low takamaki-e on a mottled Mura-nashiji background. The motifs on the lid depict branches of Japanese pine with finely rendered needles on the lower part; on the upper part, it showcases fruited persimmon branches. Two different shades of gold fundame were used to contrast the design and augmented by scattered gold kirigane to highlight some of the leaves. The design continues and cascades down to all sides of the lid as well as the walls of the box. The two bronze medallions appear original to the box and the silk ties show significant fading from the age. This Fine fubako is signed on the lower wall "Kanshosai" in Kanji with a kao mark. All the trims were finished in gold fundame and the interiors a dense nashiji in gold. Kanshosai is the mark of the distinguished lacquer artist Lizuka Toyo I who also signed his work "Toyosai". He was active in the second half of the 18th century during Edo period, employed by Hachisuka Shigeyoshi (1738-1801), daimyo of Awa on Shikoku Island. Although most survived work bearing his marks are inros, he was also known to decorated trays and other larger objects...

Rare and unusual George III tea caddy in the form of a ribbed bucket. The tea caddy of beautiful shape with a ribbed exterior carved from alternating panels of plain Sycamore and...

An 18th century English Porcelain Trompe L'oeil covered cauliflower form Box. This English Porcelain Trompe L'oeil Covered Cauliflower F...

A rare, incredible and large antique Chinese carved mother of pearl mounted tea caddy with armorial for MacPherson and dating from circa...

Trimmed in elegant yellow gold is this polished English agate snuff box. Distinguished by the dynamic patterning of the agate, the exquisite vessel i...

A fine example of a burr thorn and crossbanded tea caddy of superb color and patina with the original brass handle and bracket feet, circa 1750.

Antique blue marbled chest from northern Sweden made during the late 1700s. The chest is very unusual and in untouched original condition. Made in pine with working lock and key. The...

Set of three carved wood hand painted donation / offering ALM Boxes, Spain, 18th century. Polychromed wooden Church Collection offering donation money boxes as wall decorations. Beautiful wall decoration comprised of three wall hanging collection / doation money boxes. Originally used to collect donations at Christian churches/chapels. Each one has a different design. All three create a colorful set displayed together. Rare find. Provenance: Private collection. On sale as a set. Measures: Religious woman: 45 cm H x 26 cm W x 21 cm D Saints Box: 33 cm H x 37 cm W x 14 cm D Blue Box:46 cm H x 31,5 cm W x 14 cm D Poor box...

Bronze and gilded copper box, Central Europe, 16th century Dimensions: 13 x 17.2 x 12.2 cm Resting on the ground by means of four spherical feet in...

This is an antique knife box. An English, flame mahogany cutlery canteen with oak fitted interior, dating to the Georgian period, circa 1770. Su...

Presentation Snuff box from the 18th century French School. A very important and rare Neoclassical oval box, made in Paris, France circa 1790. It was crafted with translucent natu...

An exceptional Indo-Portuguese colonial mother-of-pearl veneered casket with silver mounts India, Gujarat, 2nd half of the 16th century, the silver mounts Goa or probably Lisbon Measures: H. 16 x W. 24.6 x D. 16.1 cm An exceptional Gujarati casket with a rectangular box and truncated pyramidal lid (with slopes on each side and a flat top) made from exotic wood, probably teak (Tectona grandis), covered with a mother-of-pearl mosaic. The tesserae, cut from the shell of the green turban sea snail (Turbo marmoratus, a marine gastropod) in the shape of fish scales, are pinned to the wooden structure with silver ball-headed nails. The casket is set on bracket feet on the corners. The masterfully engraved decoration of the silver mounts follows the most refined and erudite Mannerist repertoire of rinceaux and ferroneries dating from the mid-16th century. The high quality and refinement of the silver mounts and, likewise, the silver nails that replaced the original brass pins used to hold the mother-of-pearl tesserae in place indicate the work of a silversmith probably working in Lisbon in the second half of the 16th century. The Indian origin of this production, namely from Cambay (Khambhat) and Surat in the present state of Gujarat in north India, is, as for the last three decades, consensual and fully demonstrated, not only by documentary and literary evidence - such as descriptions, travelogues and contemporary archival documentation - but also by the survival in situ of 16th-century wooden structures covered in mother-of-pearl tesserae. A fine example is a canopy decorating the tomb (dargah) of the Sufi saint, Sheik Salim Chisti (1478-1572) in Fatehpur Sikri in Agra district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, north India. This is an artistic production, geometric in character and Islamic in nature, where usually the mother-of-pearl tesserae form complex designs of fish scales or, similar to the dishes also made using the same technique, with the thin brass sheets and pins, stylized lotus flowers. The truncated pyramidal shape corresponds, like their contemporary tortoiseshell counterparts also made in Gujarat, to a piece of furniture used in the Indian subcontinent within the Islamic world prior to the arrival of the first Portuguese. This shape, in fact, is very old and peculiar to East-Asian caskets, chests or boxes used to contain and protect Buddhist texts, the sutras. A similar chest is the famous and large reliquary chest from Lisbon cathedral that once contained the relics of the city's patron saint, Saint Vincent. Both match in shape, having the same kind of socle or pedestal and bracket feet, and in their engraved silver mountings, featuring the same type of refined, erudite decoration. Their differences lie in the silver borders that frame the entire length of the edges of the chest (both the box and the lid), pinned with silver nails, and on the lock plate, shaped like a coat of arms in the Lisbon example. Given the exceptional dimensions of the reliquary casket...

Mudejar-style chest. Spain, circa 1500. Wood and leather. A chest with a wooden core and leather lining. The leather has been embossed with stylised vegetal motifs on both sides, i...

This luxurious Louis XV-period gold snuffbox was crafted by master French goldsmith Germain Chayé. Formed of 18-karat yellow gold, this exceptional box d...

This Louis XV-period gold-mounted snuff box features lustrous panels of inlaid mother-of-pearl. The whimsical box takes the form of a barrel and features hinged lids on both ends. Di...

Rather large and rare miniature chest of drawers in late baroque from the early 18th century. Made in Walnut with key-plate in brass. All the drawers in the dresser with original loc...

c.1800, England, Regency brass inlaid rosewood lap desk in the manner of George Bullock. Rectangular box with double-hinged lid, opening to tooled navy leather and gold embossed writ...

This fine sterling silver box is a piece of high craftmenship. All the surfaces are finely engraved with rich Baroque decor. It is a little jewel of handmade work. It was a jewel bo...

18th Century Creamware Red-printed Tea Caddy, circa 1765-75 The creamware tea caddy or teapoy is rectangular in form with large panels to fr...

Beautiful antique 18th century French bread box made of hammered cooper richly decorated with crown, flags guarded by animals and large bourbon lily i...

18th century Italian painted and parcel gilt reliquary box. This lovely large Italian Baroque box is made of painted and parcel gilt wood surrounded by ...

Nice small proportions with paneled hinged lid over a conforming case with three panels with carved detail, square section legs.

A very attractive, good quality, late 18th century rosewood oblong shaped tea caddy having satinwood strung mouldings and original brass hinges, with working lock and key. Constru...

17th Century English Jacobean Carved Oak Bible Box. Period Jacobean solid dark oak bible box from the 17th century. The front is beautifully carved wi...

Our rare, 18th century ceremonial casket in the form of a Venetian gondola is expertly carved from walnut with gilt cartouches depicting figures and s...

Presenting a fabulously rare 18c Indo-Portuguese Vargueno mini cabinet. Extremely rare, highly important and desirable colonial piece ! It is an In...

A fine miniature William and Mary 17th century diminutive walnut chest. From the reign of King William & Queen Mary (1688-1702), England. The cross...