Antique Ceylonese Coromandel Work Box c.1880

This is a lovely antique Victorian Gothic Revival gilt brass strapwork mounted Coromandel stationery box, circa 1870 in date. This delightful antique writing slope has a hinged se...

This is a magnificent antique brass bound coromandel Victorian Gothic Revival casket by Parkins and Gotto, 24 & 25 Oxford Street, London, circa 1860 in date. The rectangular box fe...

This is an antique Victorian Coromandel scent bottle box of domed form with elaborate decorative brass mounts with inset attractive Pietra Dura cabochons, circa 1860 in date. The domed lid reveals three cut glass bottles with stoppers. The box has a working lock with key. Provenance: The Dr. Lawrie Webster Collection of Boxes...

This is a stunning antique Victorian Coromandel gentleman's travelling vanity case with fitted interior, circa 1865 in date. This rectagular shaped traveling case is made of rare coromandel wood and features a blank brass plaque. The interior is well fitted with Sheffield silver plate mounted jars, bottles and shaving tools, displayed on fitted blue velvet. The secret button at the front of the case opens a sprung secret drawer below, for your jewellery. The underside of the lid has a velvet backed mirror and a compartment for hiding your letters. Complete with working Bramah lock and original key. It is a beautiful piece which will look stunning on your dressing table. Condition: In really excellent condition. Please see photos for confirmation. Dimensions in cm: Height 9 x Width 26 x Depth 19 Dimensions in inches: Height 3 inches x Width 10 inches x Depth 7 inches Calamander wood or Coromandel wood is a valuable wood from India, Sri Lanka and South East Asia. It is of a hazel-brown color, with black stripes (or the other way about), very heavy and hard. It is also known as Macassar Ebony or variegated ebony and is closely related to genuine ebony, but is obtained from different species in the same genus; one of these is Diospyros quaesita Thwaites, from Sri Lanka. The name Calamander comes from the local sinhalese name, 'kalu-medhiriya', which means dark chamber; referring to the characteristic ebony black wood. Coromandel wood has been logged to extinction over the last 2 to 3 hundred years and is no longer available for new work in any quantity. Furniture in coromandel is so expensive and so well looked after that even recycling it is an unlikely source. A substitute, Macassar Ebony, has similar characteristics and to the untrained eye is nearly the same but it lacks the depth of colour seen in genuine Coromandel. Travelling cases became very popular towards the end of the 18th century. They were manufactured specifically to accompany upper class gentleman during travel. Dressing cases were originally rather utilitarian but they spoke volumes about their owners’s wealth and place in society, as at that time, traveling was only done by the elite. Gentleman’s dressing cases would contain bottles and jars for colognes, aftershaves and creams as well as essential shaving and manicure tools. As these boxes became more popular, many further traveling item options were offered for inclusion. By the early Victorian era, ladies also began to travel and suddenly their requirements were anything but utilitarian! Ladies dressing cases could feature a wide range of decorative bottles and jars as well as a vast array of beautifcation tools, all designed with pure luxury in mind. The exterior of the box became almost as important as the interior and these boxes started being veneered with beautiful exotic woods from all over the world. As demand for gentleman’s boxes lessened, the dressing case started to also become known by the more feminine term ‘vanity box’. These boxes, with their excessive price tags, were now considered as true works of art and beauty in themselves, and were often bought as status symbols rather than actual traveling companions. Some of the finest examples of travelling cases made from exotic wood with gold and silver fittings come from: Walter Thornhill, Betjamann & Sons and Jenner...

This is a magnificent antique Victorian Gonçalo Alves table top Vanity Box, circa 1860 in date. The fitted interior reveals a lift-out compartment tray, dressed with a green velve...

This is an absolutely fabulous antique French Ormolu and Sèvres Porcelain desktop correspondence casket, circa 1870 in date. Of rectangular form, the front top and sides feature b...

- Wonderful antique Portugese knife or cutlery box - Hand crafted from coromandel and we date to circa 1880 - Come view in our Canonbury Antiques Hertfordshire...

A truly magnificent drinks / decanter box made from exotic Coromandel mounted with polished brass mounts inset with a plethora of different kinds of cabochon cut and polished onyx st...

A charming mid 19th century carved ebony box with intertwined foliate ornament on all sides on a punched ground, opening to a void interior, the sides and lid with inlaid bone dots a...

This is an antique keepsake box. A Scottish, sycamore work or jewellery case, dating to the Victorian period, circa 1880. Gorgeous figuring to ...

We are delighted to offer for sale this lovely circa 1880 hand made Chinese Chinoiserie work / sewing table with silk lining. A very good looking and wel...

Stunning antique Victorian quality coromandel wood box having a quality antique Victorian coromandel wood box with a dome shaped lid opening to rev...