Inlay Decorative Boxes

Complete with fifteen Glass Bottles From our Apothecary collection, we are delighted to offer this Satinwood Apothecary Box. The Apothecary Box of square form veneered in Satinwood with fine Kingwood crossbanding and Boxwood edging finished with two bone escutcheons, one a dummy to finish exterior symmetry of the Box. The top of the box is fitted with a large brass circular carry handle allowing ease of travel and stands upon a slightly raised plinth base. The Apothecary Box opens from the top revealing the fifteen glass bottles with stoppers before opening forward and extending fully showing the two wings of the box with unusual almost gothic viewing windows for the bottle labels. The box contains 15 partitions for glass bottles, a velvet lined inner lid, six drawers which comprise of two large drawers and four smaller drawers. The drawers contain a selection of apothecary objects and a set of brass scales...

Florence, Italie Late 15th century Dimensions: h. 23 cm, w. 45cm, d. 29 cm Walnut with inlays of different types of stained native wood Rare writing box with intricate decoration of...

PRESENTING AN EXCEPTIONALLY RARE & IMPORTANT late 18C Anglo Indian Sadeli Mosaic Sarcophagus Sewing Box. VERY, VERY EARLY Sadeli Mosaic piece, which is what makes it all the more important! Made in the area of Bombay, India circa 1780-1800. The box is in a classic Regency Era Sarcophagus form, very reminiscent of an Egyptian/Summarian Coffins/Tombs. This form features regularly in Tea Caddies of that period and helps us identify this piece as, most definitely, late 18th Century. The box is flanked on either side by scroll shaped ends, with a raised platform on the lid. The box is completely covered in an early version of ‘Sadeli Mosaic’. It is edged/banded in faux ivory and ebony stringing. The box case is made of sandalwood. This box is a really EARLY example of this type of mosaic work. The craftsmen of the Bombay area became famous for their ‘sadeli mosaic’ work, through the 19th Century and most examples of boxes with this mosaic, date from the mid-19th Century up to the early 20th Century. As the surface of the early sadeli work, is quite rough/coarse to the touch, it was very difficult to maintain, as dusting with a cloth, would often ‘lift off’ some of the mosaic. Thus, very, very few pieces have survived fully intact. There is no disputing that this box has lived a ‘full life’, BUT, that is to be expected of most Sadeli Mosaic pieces from 1880 … let alone one, from 100 years earlier than that! It is remarkable that it has survived at all! If this were in better condition, it would be in a museum and/or would have a VERY LARGE price tag of multiples of our asking price! There has been quite a loss of mosaic and banding on the exterior, but the loss has been halted, by a gentle application of filler and clear lacquer. The interior of the box is SUPERB, it is ‘pretty much’ in ORIGINAL CONDITION! The mirror is the original and removeable. It is edged/banded with sadeli mosaic, bone and ebony. It has a removeable base tray with various lidded compartments. Original red velvet lining on the inside of the lid and under the tray. The tray has 3 Sadeli mosaic lidded compartments (1 large and 2 small). The ‘sadeli’ work on the lids, is exceptional and very well preserved, with only very minor losses. You can really see the quality of the original mosaic work on these! It has a removeable pin cushion, banded in bone and hand decorated and the original burgundy velvet. There are 4 bone lids for holding the 6 faux ivory thread spools, thimble, and hand decorated thread cannisters. There is 1 long bone lid for storage underneath. The interior is pretty much as good as it gets! It sits on 4 brass ball feet. THIS IS AN EXCEPTIONALLY RARE 18C MINIATURE SEWING BOX! 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...

A rare, early 18th cenury parquetry table top spice cabinet unusually veneered in rosewood set in a geometric pattern. The two doors opening to reveal an arrangement of seven drawers...

English George III triple tea caddy mahogany satinwood, ebony, rosewood and boxwood inlaid. Satinwood, ebony, rosewood and boxwood tea caddy which dates to the end of the 18th century, with attractive fan inlaid...

Miniature furniture made by hand in high quality: spruce body, veneered with walnut and numerous precious woods, marquetry in the form of fields and bands, star inlay on the top, smooth surfaces, bevelled side edges on the front, small butt feet typical of the type, 3 full-length drawers, the top one with a lock, brass fittings, pull fittings with moving rings...

Miniature furniture made by hand in high quality: Oak body veneered with walnut and numerous fruitwoods, marquetry in the form of fields and strips, smooth surfaces with central pro...

Classic refined elegance and sophistication at its finest. Born at the turn of the late 18th / early 19th century, during the height of the golden age of English furniture and design, this Georgian period / Regency era (George III, 1760-1801) tea caddy with beautifully aged dark patina, features a rectangular sarcophagus-form case in warm, rich, highly figured mahogany veneer, accented by contrasting satinwood and ebony string banding and intricate cross-banded inlays, mounted with patinated metal lion's mask ring handles, raised on brass ball-and-claw feet. The hinged lid top opens to reveal a visually striking interior, embellished with Chippendale old English fylfot rosette medallion, above a red upholstery lined center space that once housed a mixing glass...

English George III satinwood double tea caddy with oval burl walnut inlays to all sides and the top. The kingwood crossbanding is enclosed by a thin line inlay of boxwood and is on a...

English Georgian oval satinwood tea caddy with floral and leaf inlays in boxwood and sycamore to the front and sides. The lid is beautifully inlaid with a large shaded boxwood flower...

An antique and early English canteen (cellarette) Colony Box offers English oak construction with Santo Domingo burl veneer, inlaid shell form marquetry reserves, banding, and hinged...

George III mahogany tea caddy,with shell & bird marquetry inlay.