Carved Ceylonese Ebony Box

Bohemia, circa 1870. ​This exceptional 19th century antique casket originates from Carlsbad, a spa town in the west Bohemia region of the Czech Republic. The town is officially known as Karlovy Vary and gained fame as a destination during the 19th century. Its piping hot springs drew tourists from across Europe to 'take the waters' and their health benefits. The highly figured stones used on this exceptional box were locally sourced and are specific to the hot mineral rich springs of Carlsbad. Close inspection will reveal layer on layer of fine mineral...

A late Victorian oak smoker’s companion in the form of a horse drawn delivery van, 1897, a hinged lid encloses two compartments, with a pipe rack and...

A Regency leather jewelry, work and writing casket, the hinged lid enclosing a partitioned compartment, the moulded doors enclosing four drawers with faux book spine fronts, the low...

A large French 16th Century Beech wood & leather chest, with iron flowerhead and domed stud work to front top and sides. Original hasp and lockplate, the interior of the box with lat...

An extraordinary Anglo-Indian box from Vizagapatam in fully carved solid ebony, late 19th century. Filigree ornate and sculpted floral decoration...

PRESENTING A BEAUTIFUL and RARE 19C Anglo Ceylonese Specimen Wood Trinket Box. Made in ‘Galle’, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) circa 1860-80. Made for the ex...

An exquisite 19th century luxury sailor's box in sandalwood with dramatically contrasting bone and ebony geometric decoration and string inlay having raised center tier with sliding ...

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...