16th Century, Gothic Iron Bound Casket, French, Circa 1500-1540

An impressive early 16th Century oak coffer, Normandy, circa 1500, having a deep plank hinged top, above a series of four Gothic tracery carved panels...

17th century canted oak livery cupboard, with plain cup & cover supports with ionic capitals.

The tall narrow rectangular back with moulded panel, the horizontal or flat arms typically angled to the centre and raised on four baluster and reel turned supports, two of which ext...

The top board bearing marquetry-inlaid initials ‘MA’, the slope with further marquetry-inlaid flowers and meandering foliage, enclosing an interior with a shelf, the end boards boldl...

CHARLES I, OAK & INLAID COURT CUPBOARD Yorkshire, England, Circa 1630 The frieze gauge carved to three sides, raised on baluster and reel-turned end-columns, enclosing two recessed ...

The top of three fully-cleated boards, the two leaves of similar construction, all frieze rails carved with lunettes, raised on large plain bulbous 'cup-and-cover' turned legs, joine...

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...

Rare and well-preserved 16th century cupboard / cabinet. Detailed carved top section depicting a floral leaf design and people in polychrome lacquer. Front with red lacquer, pair of ...

This stunning rustic Buddha box stand table is a late 19th century offering box. Significant Triangular shape box stand table set on legs carved as Naga's a...

Very beautiful Japanese jewelry cabinet in Yosegi-zaiku marquetry composed of six drawers. The whole is inlaid with geometrically shaped pieces of wood and decorated with motifs resembling kamon...

A stunning early 19th century brass inlaid sarcophagus shaped tea caddy, with dome top opening to reveal an interior well fitted with twin compartments and a glass mixing bowl...

A Chinese red lacquered treasure chest box from the 19th century, with brass hardware. Born in China during the 19th century, this elegant treasure chest features a red lacquered sur...