19th Century Anglo Indian Vizagapatam Stag Antler Horn Sewing Box, Exceptional

PRESENTING A LOVELY 19C Anglo Indian Vizagapatam Bone and Shell Domed Stationery Box – ‘Alice’s Box’. Made in Vizagapatam, India, circa 1860-80. We call this one: “Alice’s Box”! It has lived ‘a hard, well used and traveled life’, as is evident from the number of losses and repairs, as is obvious from the photos, especially to the faux ivory panels and bands to the top. The bonus to the loss of the frieze panels to the dome has a ‘bonus’, however, as their loss has revealed the most GORGEOUS faux blonde tortoiseshell underneath! The box is dome/casket shaped. The top has 3 bands, with the center one being the original. The 2 side bands are later ivorine. The faux ivory and hand-painted medallions on the domed lid, have been saved and they depict Hindu Gods, Vishnu and Shiva. The front and side panels are still in pretty good shape and are decorated with lac ink (indelible ink made from crushed beetles) depicting lovely floral designs. The domed lid open to reveal a series of open compartments for envelopes, writing paper etc. and one lidded panel for stamps. Inside the box are 2 paper labels: one probably being the original item ticket and the other with: ” Alice’s address is 272 Ashworth Ave, Toronto 4, Ontario”. Probably, the original owner? Hence, we call it ‘Alice’s Box’. What a journey/life this box has had! Made in India, made its way to Canada, back to Ireland and then to Texas! This is why, WE LOVE ANTIQUES...

PRESENTING A VERY NICE 19C Anglo Indian Highly Carved Padouk and Sandalwood Sarcophagus Sewing Box. Made in Bombay, India circa 1890-1900. The box case/body is made of sandalwo...

Presenting an absolutely stunning 19c Anglo Ceylonese sewing box of museum quality. Made in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) circa 1860, this is one of the finest sewing boxes of it’s kind that we have ever seen! The box is made from coromandel wood (an exotic hardwood found in Ceylon) and has a serpentine edging all over the front, back and sides. Very often the lids/tops of these boxes suffer cracks due to shrinkage but this one is near perfect with no crack in the lid/top. There is some evidence of natural shrinkage but that is around the edges of the lid/top. It is when you open this box that it reveals it’s true beauty, quality and treasure ! The inside of the lid/top is heavily and beautifully decorated with inlaid bone in scrolling floral patterns which have then been hand painted with red and black ‘lac’ ink. The central medallion is a circle of inlaid specimen exotic hardwoods radiating towards a central bone and hand painted flower. The circle is edged in bone, wood and silver chevrons. What makes this box Exceptionally rare is that it contains 3 lift out base sections. Normally, there would be a maximum of 2. The first tray/section is clearly for the purposes ancillary to sewing with a pair of sections with bone spools for thread etc. There are 17 other lidded compartments with each one highly decorated using hand painted bone and specimen woods to replicate tortoiseshell. The first tray lifts out to reveal a second removeable tray which is made up of a pair of open sections and 8 specimen wood lidded sections each with chevron banding. The third tray is a smaller tray underneath with 14 lidded compartments each with hand painted bone and specimen wood inlaid lids again, replicating the look of tortoiseshell. Again they are banded with a chevron border. This is a museum quality piece ! It is in fantastic condition for it’s age with the minor shrinkage to the edges of the lid/top, some finger pulls missing and some very minor cracks to the tray lids and bases but nothing that in any way detracts from the piece. No key. Dimensions: Closed the box is 16.75 inches wide, 11.25 inches deep and 7.5 inches high Fully open the box is 16.5 inches high, 16.75 inches wide and 11.4 inches deep Anglo-Indian and ceylonese boxes: Anglo Indian boxes were made in India for the English residents from the early part of the 18th century. They were brought back or sent back to England usually by the people who had commissioned them. From the beginning of the nineteenth century they were imported more commercially, although not in any significant numbers until the middle decades. They were very highly valued, especially the early ones, to the extent that the designs were copied on late 19th and early 20th century tins. Anglo-Indian boxes normally consist of 3 main types:- (1) Most of the best and highest quality Anglo-Indian boxes in the 18th and 19th centuries were made in Vizagapatam, India, renowned for its exquisite craftsmanship in using ivory and tortoiseshell and lac decoration. These are referred to as ‘Vizagapatam Boxes...

Presenting an absolutely gorgeous and very rare 19C Anglo Indian Vizigapatam stamp box. Made in Colonial India (the Time of the Raj) circa 1860. Prob...

PRESENTING A LOVELY 19C Anglo Indian Highly Carved Padouk Wood with Sadeli Mosaic Inlay Sewing Box. Made in Bombay, India, circa 1880. The box is made of sandalwood with highly carved raised padouk wood panels on all sides, depicting temple scenes, animals and foliage. The box is in a sarcophagus form. It is edged in bone (and we can tell it is bone and not ivory, from the color and evidence of capillaries, which are not found in ivory), and banded with Bombay Sadeli mosaic and ebony veneer. The lid opens to reveal a removable tray with various open compartments and lidded compartments. 5 lidded compartments, 1 unlidded compartment and 8 holders for thimbles, etc The tray lifts to reveal a blue velvet (original) lined section, for storing jewelry etc, with sections for collars etc. The inside of the lid has a removable mirror (the mirror is missing on this one but can easily be replaced). Behind the mirror is the original green velvet lining. It has its original brass carry handles on the sides and sits on 4 silvered button feet (of recent origin). Some repairs to the exterior and condition issues (priced accordingly), but still a LOVELY COLLECTIBLE box! These boxes were made by superb Indian craftsmen, specifically for sale to the ruling British elite. These types of boxes, carved padouk and sandalwood, (whilst beautiful and superbly crafted) were of a lesser quality, than the more profusely and intricately mosaic inlay, tortoiseshell and ivory boxes, made for the British ‘Upper Classes’ in the areas of Bombay and Vizagapatam. These type of boxes were much more affordable back in 1880 (and indeed today) and would probably have been bought by mid-level diplomats, civil servants or visitors. Sewing boxes (in general), were in EVERY Victorian home in Britain in the 19th century and like other boxes etc were ‘status symbols’ of your place in society! The more ornate the box, the more ‘Upper Class’ you were! SADELI MOSAIC: “Anglo Indian boxes were made in India for the English residents from the early part of the 18th century. They were brought back or sent back to England usually by the people who had commissioned them. From the beginning of the nineteenth century they were imported more commercially, although not in any significant numbers until the middle decades. They were very highly valued, especially the early ones, to the extent that the designs were copied on late 19th and early 20th century tins. The ancient art of Sadeli Mosaic is said to have been introduced from Shiraz in Persia via Sind to Bombay, a long time before the Anglo Indian boxes were made. It was a technique, which required a high degree of skill and patience. It was executed very lavishly, in that the frequent cuts wasted a great amount of the precious materials used. The workmanship was however more than commensurable to the value of the materials. Ivory, silver, pewter (or other metals), wood and Horn were cut into faceted rods which were bound together to form geometric patterns. When the glue has set, the rods were sliced in transverse sections. This gave the maker a number of angled circular pieces in the original pattern. Several variations of patterns could be achieved by combining the materials in different ways. The ivory was sometimes dyed green to give an extra color. The mosaic pieces in a combination of patterns, often separated by ivory, ebony, Horn or silver stringing were used to veneer sandalwood boxes. In the early boxes, which date from the turn of the 18th to the 19th century, there are large panels of mosaic covering tops and sides of boxes. It took incredible skill to cover such large areas without any shakes or wavering of the pattern. The corners and joins on these boxes are impeccably matched. The makers (reputed to be Persian) of Sadeli mosaic made in the first two decades of the 19th century displayed a total understanding of the qualities of the different materials they used. They combined substances, which can expand and contract according to atmospheric conditions with others, which are hard and unyielding. The result was a sharp definition of the lines and patterns, which made up the whole design. On the early boxes the designs look deceptively simple. The fact is, they emerged from a culture, which had mastered geometry and understood how to generate a pattern from a set number of points. The patterns are so harmoniously combined that their incredible complexity is not immediately apparent. The earliest Sadeli boxes...

PRESENTING A GORGEOUS 19C Anglo Indian Rosewood Caddy with Silver Mounts. Really nice and unusual, 19th Century Anglo-Indian Spice or Tea Caddy, from cir...

A fine Vizagapatam made antler veneered sewing / work box having tapered sides and a double tiered four-slope lid with a carved finial and all raised on four turned feet. The interio...

Anglo-Indian stag horn veneered sandalwood sewing or work box with a sloped two-tier lid having a carved finial above tapered sides and raised on compressed ball feet. The interior w...

We are delighted to offer for sale this lovely 19th century Anglo-Indian Vizagapatam carved sandalwood and inlaid box Mid-19th century Anglo-Indian Vizagapatam carved sandalwood box...

This fine Regency period quill work, bone, ivory & sandalwood sewing box with intact interior w sewing implements.

19th century Anglo-Indian Mughal wood box, inlaid and hand carved with the Taj Mahal and some flowers all around. Jewelry box, Anglo-Raj box from India in great condition. Nice Mughal Bombay Box...

An Anglo Indian Rosewood box circa late 19th century. The gilt design of florals and scrolls on the top carriers through to all four sides so...