17th Century Boxes

COUNTER CASH Indo-Portuguese from the 17th century in ebony rosewood and ivory. Top, sides and front decorated with ivory inlay. Folding top showing factory with six drawers and ...

Circular form with flattened doomed covers, the covers with a medallion of flower with full bloom, the bowls with two round borders. Period : Qing Dynasty, Kangxi-Yongzheng Period P...

Rare late 17th century Italian rustic miniature blanket chest in solid poplar wood. This miniature blanket chest is ideal for decorating your home and can be used to store your preci...

COUNTER CASH 17th Century Flemish in walnut wood with inlays, consisting of two drawers and a drawer. Signs of use. Dim.: 31.5 x 44 x 27 cm good state

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

An exceptional, fine and rare antique Charles II English silver counter box; an addition to our 17th century collection. This exceptional and rare antique Charles II silver counter ...

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...

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...

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 ...

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...

A dutch tortoiseshell box with two engraved silver plaques Amsterdam, 1691, with maker's mark of Steven des Rousseaux (1654-1733) H. 5 cm Diam. 12.5 cm Note: Steven des ...

Ornately painted cash box with iron hardware and key, on the original stand. Interior of box measures 8"W x 4"H x 3.75"D Exceptional, small, late-renaissance, table-top, Nuremberg, iron, 'Wedding Box', strongbox or travelling safe with its original, naïve, painted decoration This is a rare and small example of these characterful, early models of transportable safes. The much larger traditional chest...

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

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...

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...

Wonderful messenger box from the Louis XIV period, late 17th early 18th century. This pretty box is made of leather-wrapped wood decorated with copper nails forming scrolls and flowe...

Rare Louis XIV period messenger box, Late 17th Early 18th century, in wood sheathed in black-tinted leather with a radiant sun motif. This solar decoration is certainly a reference t...

A splendid Dutch-colonial Sinhalese ebony two-door cabinet with silver mounts Sri Lanka, Kandy, 2nd half 17th century, the mounts later The cabinet with a central drawer with hidde...

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...

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...

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

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...

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

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...

Rectangular with brass strapping and side handles. Lock plate and flap. Fitted sometime in the 19th century as a tea caddy. Labeled Orange Pekoe and Black tea...

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

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...

Turned, engraved and openwork box Fruit wood Florence, 17th century Measures: Diameter 11cm Height 4.4cm.  

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...

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...

An exceptional 17th century Marriage Trunk - Malle - from the Provence region of France. Soundly constructed from wood and clad in leather. Beautifully ...

A fine Indo-Portuguese inlaid teak wood figure of Nagini India, Goa, 17th century Measure: H. 55 cm (with stand, and with ring for wall hanging) The sculpture can be perceived as such but probably is one of four legs of an Indo-Portuguese contador...

Exceptional Indo-Portuguese table cabinet from the 17 th Century, the rare Cabinet is in a very good condition, has a hinged front and has 8 drawers, b...

This is an antique verger's desk box. An English, oak ecclesiastical bible case, dating to the William III period, circa 1700. Beautifully presented desk case with fine detail and...

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.

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...

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

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...

Banner box from the1600s of rectangular shape, resting on rounded feet. The lower band is ornately carved and notched on three sides; on the front a fine modular motif. Splendid original and working antique lock...

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 ...

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 17th century silver mounted Coromandel wood with mother of pearl inlay traveling box with a Interior fitted with drawers and a reliquary cabinet. W...

Japanese rare early fine beautiful Tokugawa gold and black Lacquered wedding chest. Featuring Tokugawa crest and wild ginger motif, with gold gilt bronze. fittings. Gilded mulberry p...

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...

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 ...

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

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 unique and exceptional Japanese miniature or dollhouse export lacquered chest Kyoto, circa 1620-1640 The chest of rectangular shape with a domed lid, decorated in Transition-style, in gold hiramaki-e on a black background within reserved lobed cartouches decorated with landscapes animated with birds and rabbits, on a shagreen or samegawa background. The borders are decorated with geometric friezes, the box with gilt-copper mounts, the interior decorated in red lacquer. Measures: H 9.2 x W 14.5 x D 7.2 cm This miniature is of exceptional quality and a perfect copy of the famous large size Transition-style coffers. It was most likely ordered by a Dutch lady for her dollhouse (poppenhuis), like the famous Petronella Oortman (1656-1716) doll-house, which is now one of the highlights in the collection of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, or Petronella Oortmans-de la Court’s (1624-1707) dollhouse in the collection of the Centraal Museum Utrecht. Sara Rothé of Amsterdam in 1743 ordered a miniature black lacquered ivory tripod table with gold chinoiserie decoration by Jurriaan Buttner (Monika Kopplin, European Lacquer, 2010, p. 56). Other Japanned dollhouse...

A strongbox was a type of travelling chest and these types of boxes were more common in England than anywhere else where they were fabricated between 1660 and 1720. The earliest proo...

A fine 17th century and later floral marquetry box with hinged lid.  

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...

Japanese Namban lacquer transition-style coffer with two drawers Kyoto/Nagasaki, circa 1650 The cartouches with gilt and red decorations of leaves...

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

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

A dwarf cassone with hinged top with chip carved edge over a paneled case with central keyhole, arcaded carved base.

A large lacquer Ryoshibako (Paper box in Japanese) finely decorated with Maki-e circa 17th century early Edo period. The box is of an impressive size and was used to store paper documents. Both sides of the lid were elaborately decorated with maki-e and the edge was befitted with lead rim, an early practice before the silver rim became common later. The interior and base were finished in Nashiji. The night scene on top surface of the lid depicts flocks of chidoris flying in formation from a sea shore swaying with reeds under a full moon, using hiramaki-e in both gold and silver. Ribbons of clouds were achieved with different densities of gold powder. The underside, in contrast, shows a crescent moon in takamakie-e above the sea with ferns and reeds. Chidoris, the plovers, are symbolic in Japanese culture as "thousands of blessings" and longevity. The Namichidori, the pattern in which the chidori flies in the nami (wave) represents the eternal love and safety of couples and families. For detailed references on the historical background and the use of chidoris on lacquerware, see the reference below. This very lacquer box was featured for sale as lot 339 in Christie's London Sale Japanese Art...

A magnificent, exceptional, fine and impressive, rare antique 17th century Dutch silver tobacco box; an addition to our smoking related silverware collection. This exceptional antique Dutch silver tobacco box has an oval rounded form. The underside of this impressive Dutch tobacco box is embellished with exceptional chased decorated scene depicting a lady draped across soft furnishings and accompanied by a bearded male, with putto* observing this act amidst a stately garden backdrop; this scene can be perceived to be connected to artistic works portraying Venus, Vulcan and Cupid. The sides of this exceptional box are encompassed with chased decorated grotesque mask and scrolling leaf decoration, accented with floral motifs, all on a matte background. This silver tobacco box retains the original hinged cover embellished with further chased decoration depicting a male and female character eating and...

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