17th Century Boxes

Extremely old box that is covered with leather and metal decorations. Rare find. France, circa 1600-1700 Weathered and some losses.

This antique Buddhist shrine box was crafted in the Edo Period (1603-1868). Known in Japan as a “Zushi,” it served as a small sanctuary to enshrine Buddhist figures, scriptures, or ...

The iron coffer, fully original in every part of it, was forged and handcrafted in German in the 1610. Complete with key. Full working iron mechanisms. It ...

A fine example of a diminutive burled walnut vargueno, collector or valuables cabinet, with molded cornice and drop front, opening to a multi-drawer ...

Exquisite 17th century Spanish Colonial tortoiseshell box, beautifully decorated with intricate silver piqué inlay in a repeating design across the surface. The craftsmanship is exce...

Rare late 17th century Dutch colonial, probably Sri Lankan, Macassar ebony document box having deeply molded raised panel lid, original ri...

Rare and valuable ebony-plated domed case with rich gilt bronze decoration and central jasper medallion. Italian Renaissance manufacture from the early 17th century. The production...

In 15th and 16th century Europe, the works of blacksmiths from southern Germany were known far and wide. Demand for products by these skilled metal workers spread as far as the Scandinavian countries. Perhaps one of the most intriguing items that was produced by these workshops was the iron money...

A stunning 17th century Italian leather covered wood trunk covered in brass nail heads, some spelling out a word on top, and with iron strap hinges a...

17th Century English Jacobean Carved Oak Bible Box. Period Jacobean solid dark oak bible box from the 17th century. The front is beautifully carved wi...

An outstanding 17th century and later simulated tortoiseshell, gilt decorated, and iron bound strong box. With Chinoiserie decoration, the hinged top enclosing void interior with iro...

A very charming late 17th century French Coffre - Box crafted from beautifully patina'd leather. A wonderful piece to serve as a jewelry box or to adorn any table top.

Late 17th Century box covered in leather. With decorative metal crowns the symbol of a Count in France. Circa 1680.

Bible box hand-crafted in Italy in the mid 1600s using walnut. The box is still in fantastic shape and has a gorgeous patina. On three sides it is decorated with beautiful hand-carve...

An exceptionally rare early 17th century, James I/Charles I, black Japanned jewel box decorated with gold and red flowers and foliage. With a domed lid, o...

Magnificent Louis XIV period messenger box, late 17th early 18th century. This pretty box is made of leather-covered wood decorated with copper nails on the front and top of the box....

A Chinese Huanghuali document box with original brass mounts. Features a rectangular lid with ornate cut-out brass corners, brass bound down a...

A good antique English, Charles II (Carolean) period carved oak bible or document box, circa 1680. Such boxes were particularly popular in the 17th century, when printed bibles were very expensive and a treasured family possession. The bible was most likely the only book owned by a family and was also the means of recording births, deaths & marriages which would be written on the flyleaf or endpapers. They were also used to protect other important documents and valuables and were brought to colonial America by early settlers. This bible box dates shortly after the English Civil War & the brief time that England was a Republic (known then as the Commonwealth) under Oliver Cromwell. The box typifies those Puritan values, simple six plank construction with a hinged lid enclosing a storage area for a bible or important documents. The front of the box having a carved foliate twin lunette design with a hand cut steel lock & hasp above, the box is robust & solid & for it's 350 or so years it is in very good condition! This very early antique carved bible box...

Rare William and Mary walnut glove box on later stand - exceptional quality with aged patina - featuring elaborate walnut oyster veneered top and walnut veneered sides - the interior of the box lined with hand quilted floral silk Lampas fabric...

RARE IBERIAN SAFE from the first half of the 17th Century in painted and gilded carved wood decorated with plant motifs. Small defects. Dim.: 34 x 43 x 35 cm

A very fine and interesting late 17th century English work box or travelling case English Circa 1680 Of conventional form with slightly domed lid, this piece has acquired a magnifi...

An Indo- Portuguese brass-mounted hardwood and Indian Wood marquetry cabinet, Goa. Gorgeously made with hand-cut hardwood and the finest quality of othe...

Wooden box lined with leather engraved with damask motifs, studded with convex bronze nails. This casket was used by placing it on the altars of the family chapels to house the candl...

Magnificent antique hand-carved wooden chest, decorated with intricate geometric motifs and inlays in light tones that contrast with the dark background. The design features stars, d...

A wonderful Japanese lacquer incense box, kogo, with a design of plovers in flight, late Momoyama or early Edo Period, circa 1600, Japan. The small box, called a kogo, was used to s...

C1680 oak bible box well carved on 3 sides good colour and patination 58cms Wide x 45cms Deep  x 24cms High

An Extremely Rare Charles II Confit Box Made, Most Probably, in London circa 1670, Maker's Mark of M With a Crown Above This very rare piece is circular in form and plain in design ...

A fine example of a money chest or cash box with steel engraved figures on each side and an intricate locking mechanism under the lid, typical of metalwork coming out of a host of ci...

A Rare and Important 17th Century Miniature Japanese Lacquer Cabinet, 19 cm H, 17cm W, 16.5cm D. The exquisitely decorated cabinet depicts fine floral raised scenes to each side. l...

An old Japanese lacquered small box likely used to contain incense powder called Kobako, circa Momoyama to early Edo period (16-17th century). The rectangular form box with a fitted ...

This superb Indian spice box is of a larger scale than normally seen. It is highly decorative and original. It is made from a solid block of dense woo...

A charming 17th century ebony and kingwood cabinet with turned columns to the corners, the fall front opens to reveal a set of drawers and arched mirrored centre. The lid also housin...

An exceptional, fine and impressive antique German silver gilt tobacco box; an addition to our 17th century silverware collection. This exceptional antique 17th century German silver...

17th century leather knife box converted to a letter box with original brass hardware, sitting on brass ball feet. Fitted interior lined with 18th century silk fabric. In very good...

Early Japanese Lacquer Incense Box (Kogo) Late 17thc. Of rectangular form with soft corners, decorated with a diaper pattern in gold lacquer on a brownish black ground, with pewter r...

Leather trunk Spanish, 17th century Boiled Leather, wood and iron Measures: 22 x 53 x 32 cm. Provenance : - collection Metz-Noblat, Château de Clevant, France Rectangular trunk of the form and size of a small suitcase with wrought iron hinges and lock-plate. Wood, covered with leather, cut and embossed with every surface of the thick cow hide covered in interlace, zoomorphic features. The construction method is boiled leather, often referred to by its French translation cuir-bouilli: a process used to change flexible, vegetable-tanned leather into rigid, moulded objects. For shaping of the vegetable-tanned leather, heat and moisture were used, as indicated by the term boiled leather. No written medieval sources describing the production of decorated cuir bouilli objects survive, so knowledge of the process relies on the important studies of the Scottish leather historian John William Waterer. A large range of methods, materials and techniques could be used in various combinations. The vegetable-tanned leather, made supple with moisture and heat, was stuffed, shaped and nailed to the rigid wooden coffer support. The stuffing material was probably modeled beeswax or stearin wax. To shape the leather, to create its topography, « Cushions » were made by lacing a thread through an awl hole and attaching the flexible leather and stuffing to the rigid wooden support on the bottom. Then the decoration was done: lines were incised through the upper layer of the leather (epidermis) with different thicknesses of knives or needles. Contours were created with deep v-shaped cuts, decoration with thin incision and final details with a needle point. For the incision and pouncing stage, the leather was probably kept heated and moistened for suppleness. Once dry, the leather would be hard and rigid. the saturated leather is worked over a form, possibly even damp sand, with the pattern shaped using bone or wooden tools. Compare to metal, leather was lighter and it offered protection from cuts and punctures. Cuir bouilli objects were produced by specialist leather workers and needed skillful craftsmanship. The surface is filled with roundels shaped foliages enclosing animals, lions and peacocks. The foliate arabesques creating a vegetal connection tweet the animals create the impression of a lush verdant space . The vegetal pattern here employed in combination with geometrical pattern came from the pre-islamic artistic traditions of the Byzantine and Sasanian empires. An aspect of Islamic geometry Is the basic symmetrical repetition and mirroring of the shapes that create a sense of harmony. The decoration of this truck is inspired by the islamic « arabesque » a form of vegetal ornament composed of spirals, intertwining plants and abstract curvilinear motifs. An arabesque character is given to the birds of the decorations through extreme stylisation. This arabesque maintained the classical tradition of median symmetry, freedom in Detail and heterogeneity of ornament. The presence of the peacocks is a paradisiacal allusion: in popular Islamic literature they were among the original inhabitants of the garden of Paradise expelled with Adam and Eve. Peacock as a decorative motif may have originated in the West, despite their eastern provenance. There was an ancient belief that the flesh and feathers of peacock do not decay. This led to the peacock becoming a christian symbol for Christ’s resurrection. Renowned for their decorative wall hangings, seventeenth-century Spanish leatherworkers also produced utilitarian objects, such as this trunk. A similar trunk is on display at the Metropolitan museum of art ( 09.158.1). Related literature : Davies L. 2006. Cuir bouilli. Conservation of leather and related materials, 94-102, Oxford: elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann Grabar, Oleg. The Mediation of Ornament. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992 Gabriela Germana Roquez, "El mueble en el Peru en el siglo XVIII...

Sea captain's box with iron fittings 1680/1720 colonial.

Silver mustard pot / Antique sterling sliver seasoning pot Antique sterling silver mustard / glass lined seasoning pot 1919 Beautifully crafted ant...

Mexican cabinet. Made of tortoiseshell, pen-engraved and wood. Possible Oaxaca or Puebla, 17th century.

A fine and extremely rare figured walnut and seaweed marquetry 'lace box', circa.... let’s break it down - Seaweed marquetry first appeared in Englis...

Important and Rare Italian box safe from the 17th century In chiseled bronze, decorated with jasper plates and hard stones, with a cameo with a male figure at the centre. Inscriptio...

A 17th century cutlery box with the original leather, metal hardware and interior.

With a domed hinged lid and bail handle over a conforming case decorated overall with figures in Renaissance dress. Bun feet. Provenance; David and P...

17th century Chinese porcelain blue and white cosmetics box from the Hatcher Collection decorated with a phoenix. The phoenix is painted with its wings outstretched, its tail flutter...

A 17th century Malines alabaster and ebonised wood coffer or casket with engraved inset panels, arches and columns. The interior has a marbled paper lini...

A museum-grade mid-17th century Dutch silver marriage casket or knottekistje, circa 1660. Raised on solid silver bun feet the miniature casket is profusely engraved to all faces depicting a courting couple and architecture entwined in scrolling foliage. The reverse of the casket depicts the last supper, however, if you look closely, you can see a boy stealing food or wine from underneath! Possibly, this is the courting gentleman showing that he had a sense of humour. The scratch lined moulded top is surmounted with an intricate handle (once gilt) and floral patera to the centre. There are two inscriptions each within a cartouche 'In Lÿfde Beltact het al' and 'Getrouw tot in den doot' which loosely translates to 'faithful until the death' and 'love is everything'. Wedding caskets...

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...

This is an antique Japanese bento box from Edo era which was used for cherry blossom viewing party. It is made with bamboo and painted with ...

This oval gold snuff box is inscribed with a crest of ‘a stag trippant’ within mantling of upright ostrich plumes tied with a bow, all below a ducal coronet and above a cypher of the entwined initials ‘B.A.B.’ for Anne of Buccleuch. English, circa 1670. Provenance: Anne, 1st Duchess of Buccleuch Anne Scott, 1st Duchess of Buccleuch (1651-1732) was a wealthy Scottish peeress. After her father died when she was a few months old, and her sisters by the time she was 10, she inherited the family’s titles. She was married, at 12 years old, to James, 1st Duke of Monmouth, the eldest illegitimate son of Charles II, then 14. Following the king’s death in February 1685, James spearheaded an anti-Catholic revolt to depose the new king, James II, and claim the throne from his uncle. The brief Monmouth Rebellion ended in defeat and James, by then Duke of Monmouth and Buccleuch, was executed for treason. The Duchess had six children by Monmouth, and a further three by her second husband, Charles, 3rd Baron Cornwallis, whom she married in 1688. She died in 1732 and was succeeded by her grandson, Francis, Earl of Dalkeith. The style of chasing used on this box is very reminiscent of a signed piece in the Gilbert...

This Antique Charles II Oak Bible Box, dating from c. 1660-1685, is a remarkable piece of early English furniture, showcasing the detailed craftsmanship and design aesthetics of the ...

Spanish Colonial inlaid bone and faux tortoiseshell domed top box. Original hammered iron hinges. Circa 1680-1740. Excellent condition and very rare.

A fine and rare large parquetry inlaid 17th-century William and Mary period olive oyster lace box. 1680-1700, England The cross-grain moulded top is ent...

A Very Rare William & Mary Snuff Box Made in London circa 1690. Maker's Mark of Ah With a Crown Above and a Cinquefoil Below. The Snuff Box is of escutcheon form with plain sides an...

A fine late 17th-century olive oyster 'Lace Box' of small proportions, circa 1680-1690, England. The cross-grain moulded and holly banded top is finely veneered in hand-cut veneers ...

Fine 17th century domed box with highly figured kingwood marquetry veneer laid in a geometric pattern, the front having elaborate pierced and embossed brass escutcheon, the whole wit...

Antique Italian ballot urn shaped wooden box, carved and painted, coming from Tuscany, Monte San Savino near Arezzo in Central Italy. This ballot urn is an excellent example of a 17th century wooden voting box...

Hinged top, decorated overall with incised carving, lock plate and side handles.

A remarkable antique food box from the Shanxi province, North China, late Ming (1368-1644) to early Qing (1644-1912) Dynasty. An extraordinary e...

Yellow lacca povera box. Late 17th century chest with early 19th century lacca povera decalcomania decorations with angels, birds, lions, flowers, and trees; with original hardware a...

A rare and unique church collection box from Northern Italy. Beautifully constructed from thick planks of walnut with intriguing carving detail. A wonde...