Jonas & George Bowen Serveware, Ceramics, Silver and Glass

A silver-mounted agate box, probably English, circa 1870 rectangular, comprising two plaques of moss agate set as the base and lid of a hinged box with silver mounts, apparently unm...

Lined in Racing Green Velvet From our Jewellery Box collection, we are pleased to offer this Antique Rosewood Jewellery Box. The Jeweller...

Hallmarked in London in 1889 by Barnards, this attractive Victorian, antique, sterling silver biscuit box, has swirled and sunken half fluting, in the Queen Anne style. It has a flus...

English, circa 1870. A Regency Tunbridge Ware & Penwork Tea Caddy Box of Hexagonal form. Featuring a decorated Neo Classical taste top centering the goddess Ceres recumbent upon her...

Fully Lined Interior From our Jewellery Box collection, we are pleased to offer this Antique Mahogany Watch Box. The Watch Box of slender rectangular form made from solid Mahogany w...

A superb antique 19th century English coromandel and rosewood fitted travel vanity or dressing box, circa 1870. This fine box contains the original contents including silverplate lidded cut glass jars, sewing tools...

Just a lovely cribbage game box! If you don't know how to play, perhaps this will entice you to learn!.  

An English silver caviar boat on diminutive square feet, late 19th century. Two slim lids lifting to reveal compartments for ice and a beautiful acorn finial on centre lid.

19th century English silver plated ostrich egg box, attributed to Elkington & Co. In three parts, the silver plated lid with Acanthus leaf handle, the silver rimed egg, and the grap...

Silver plated and enameled bat matchsafe, realistically cast and chased, with enameled wings, unmaked.

Fitted Tunbridge Ware Sewing Box Interior From our Tunbridge Ware collection, we are delighted to offer this Tunbridge Ware Sewing Box. The Rosewood box of rectangular form extensiv...

Offered is a stunning Sheffield silver keepsake box dating to 1900, with associated hallmark. This small box includes a clean interior and rounded corners. The box is free of names or initials, but would have been used to house keepsakes such as jewelry or cufflinks. A well maintained, elegant piece, this antique silver box is an excellent addition to any silver collection. Trinket or keepsake boxes have taken on many forms since their first conception in ancient times. However their purpose remains the same; to store jewelry and other items precious to the owner. Originally, these boxes were used specifically for jewelry. These were in common use as early as 5000 BC in Ancient Egypt, when the majority of Egyptians, both male and female, wore jewelry. Boxes were used to keep these gemstone encrusted items safe. In Ancient Rome, jewelry was a status symbol. Rings and brooches were utilized to represent ones status in society. Again, boxes were needed for security and storage purposes. Finding early examples of these are quite rare. Victorian and Edwardian examples of trinket boxes are far more common. This is because owning jewellery was a luxury until the Victorian era- let alone possessing so much a box was needed to store it all. Fine jewelry and other items became available to the masses after the industrial revolution due to the reduction in production costs. This led to a demand for trinket boxes, which were much smaller than jewelry boxes and therefore better suited to the needs of the middle class who did not yet possess an abundance of jewelry. In Victorian households, collectables and other items of interested were also stashed inside these boxes. This is why they are known as trinket or keepsake boxes, rather than just jewelry boxes, although of course jewelry was also stored in them. Trinket boxes were produced in large numbers around this time. Many were lined with colored plush or velvet or rich wood. More elaborate designs had interior divisions and trays for rings and other pieces of jewellery. It was also common to see trinket boxes so small that they could only contain one item, such as a single ring. Ornate exteriors were created to reflect the value of the trinket boxes contents. The Edwardian era saw the introduction of new styles of trinket box. These included small circular or oblong boxes...