Box House Antiques Ltd.

A classic Chippendale-period secretaire breakfront library bookcase in well-figured mahogany. Early-George III, circa 1760. Of excellent colour, patina, and condition throughout. Th...

An English early-eighteenth century red japanned bow-front corner cupboard, or cabinet, George II-period, circa 1730. In superb condition throughout. Retaining its original butterfly hinges, with a period key and working lock. These are usually encountered with a black background, however when in red these examples of japanning are much sought after. Many were produced domestically, often by talented female members of the family. Note the charming English interpretations in the decorated surfaces. An unusual subject can be seen in the base, a hunter on horseback with sword drawn, confronting a mythological beast, probably representing a tiger with mandarins posing amongst stylised pagodas, rooftops and rockwork. Chinoiserie-decorated surfaces were extremely popular in the early part of the 18th century, almost reaching a craze among the upper classes wishing to demonstrate their fashionable status. There were several revivals of chinoiserie particularly in the first quarter of the 20th century, so caution is advised in one’s collecting. This type of decoration is also sometimes erroneously referred to as ''lacquer’'. The fashion icon Coco Chanel furnished her exquisite Paris apartments largely in the European chinoiserie taste. References: V & A – The development of English black japanning 1620-1820, A History of Japanning in England: Technique & Decoration. John Stalker and George Parker...

A fine pair of English George lll-period pedestal cabinets in well-figured mahogany of deep, rich colour and superb patination, attributed to Gillows of Lancaster, circa 1800. The f...

A fine and rare English revolving drum-top library table in mahogany, attributed to Gillows of Lancaster, circa 1770. This is a rare, compact form of a George lll-period drum-top library table in superb condition, retaining excellent colour and patina throughout. The circular top fitted with green leather insert with gilt-embossed border rotates. The six working drawers retain their original brass handles - some of these frieze drawers with subdivisions for monies/ documents - faced with ivory numbers 1-6. The fully-rotating top retaining its original internal steel castors, raised on a cabinet base with a locking cupboard - with original lock, period key and original brass pull - and a shelf within. The moulded panel above a generous plinth. These are sometimes referred to as 'rent' tables when they have a recess for depositing cash. This library table has divisions in secure drawers fulfilling much the same purpose of receiving rent from an Estate's tenant(s). The base would typically contain larger account books...

A sophisticated Queen Anne-period chinoiserie japanned chest raised on elegant cabriole legs with 'pony foot' carved detailing. This early-18th century chest on stand demonstrates the charming and highly fashionable English domestic interpretation of oriental scenes of pagodas, rockwork, trees, ornamental bridges, mythical birds, and figures dressed in the oriental manner, holding parasols and cavorting in gardens. All in remarkable condition having survived some three hundred years. Chests on cabriole supports of this form were also very much in fashion in the American colonies during this early Queen Anne-period (1702-1714). Sometimes erroneously referred to as ‘'lacquer''. The fashion icon Coco Chanel furnished her exquisite Paris apartments largely in the European chinoiserie taste. References: V & A Museum, London - The development of English black japanning 1620-1820. Literature and further reading: John Stalker and George Parker...

An English Chippendale-period carved giltwood mirror. Mid-18th century, ca 1755. Flanked, in a delicately-shaped frame, by carved fruit, bold C scrolls and foliage: very typical of ...

A fine and rare pair of English Regency-period mahogany sofa tables of elegant design. Early-19th century, ca 1811 - 1820. Note the beautifully-figured, matched mahogany & satinwoo...

A rare, small, English early-18th century walnut bureau bookcase/ cabinet with a moulded swan-neck pediment. Circa 1727-1730. On the cusp of George I- into George II-period. The bev...

A rare Chinese polychrome Coromandel or ‘Bantam Ware’ lacquer casket or table cabinet, Kangxi period (1661-1722). Circa 1700. This fine small Chinese-export lacquer fitted casket is decorated overall with polychrome incised decoration. Opening with two doors revealing a red interior with fitted drawers and a hinged rising top. In superb, almost entirely original condition, retaining its vivid colours and fine details with courtiers in a pavilion and on horseback amidst foliage and formal palace gardens. The small bun-type feet are historical replacements. Interestingly bearing an antique-script inventory #25 and A I on the base. Nb. Bantamwork or Coromandel lacquer, not to be confused with ‘japanning’, is the term applied to decoration that is cut into a layer of gesso and then lacquered in colours. Much of the lacquer was transhipped from China through Coromandel in India, or the Dutch colony Batavia, Java. References: Coromandel lacquer or 'Bantamwork', with its characteristic incised decoration, was made in Henan province in Northern China from the latter-part of the Ming dynasty and exported to Europe from the end of the 17th Century through the East India Company's and VOC trading posts on the Coromandel Coast of India. The technique consisted in overlaying a base of wood with a series of increasingly fine white clays and fibrous grasses. Over this surface, lacquer was applied and polished before the design was incised and the hollowed out portions filled with colour and gilt and finished with a clear lacquer to protect it. Although John Stalker and George Parker used the term 'Bantamwork', the contemporary layman usually called it 'cutt-work', 'cutt Japan' or 'hollow burnt Japan'. Stalker and Parker discuss two types of 'Bantam-work' - flat and incised - in their 'Treatise on Japanning and Varnishing' (1688), noting that it 'was done in colors mix't with a gum water'. They also considered that it was 'almost obsolete, and out of fashion, out of use and neglected....' although admitted that 'it was very pretty, and some are more fond of it, and prefer it to the other...'. This casket/ table cabinet now on offer is related to one formerly with Malletts and illustrated in A. Bowett, 'English Furniture 1660-1714: From Charles II to Queen Anne' (2002) p. 150, plates 5:9. A much larger yet closely-related Bantam work coffer with rising lid was offered in the 'Asian Art in Cologne' sale lot 114 on 11th December 2021. Estimated @ £ 60,000 - £79,000. Mme de Pompadour, mistress to King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, was an avid collector and admirer of Chinese Coromandel or Bantam Work, and was probably largely responsible for the very high prices recorded for such pieces, sometimes 10 times or more the price of ordinary furniture of equivalent quality. A Coromandel cabinet...

A fine pair of mid-eighteenth century carved mahogany library armchairs attributed to Robert Manwaring, ca 1760. Crisply carved, of superb colour and...

A fine and rare English chinoiserie-decorated occasional table, circa 1820. The subject matter is extremely rare in that it depicts Europeans in exotic oriental robes. One is seated with an opium pipe; displayed in a polychrome romantic tropical environment with pavilions, rockwork, trellising, foliage, palms, with a peacock and HoHo bird at their feet. Note the very rare and charming depiction of these men with beards. In over 67 years we have never encountered a japanned table showing this European feature. Raised on a gilded, reeded, partly-ebonised column rising from a stylised platform base and spreading, gilded animal...

A rare Chinese Guan Yin figure, early Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Beautifully painted carved wood retaining a significant amount of its apparently or...