1880s Crystal Serveware

This is a superb antique Victorian coromandel, brass mounted and cased three decanter tantalus and games compendium, Circa 1880 in date. It was skillfully crafted in rare coromandel with cut brass mounts, three cut crystal glass decanters with stoppers, a mirrored back and a twin lidded compartment with a Bramah lock, opening to reveal a compartment containing five glasses. There is a secret base drawer with playing cards, cribbage board, dice and chips. It can be opened by pressing the disguised brass button which is just in front of the central decanter. It is a decorative piece which is also very practical, and would make a lovely gift. It is complete with the original working Bramah lock and key, which locks everything. Condition: In excellent condition having been beautifully cleaned polished and waxed in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation. Dimensions in cm: Height 33 cm x Width 38 cm x Depth 11 cm Dimensions in inches: Height 1 foot, 1 inch x Width 1 foot, 3 inches x Depth 4 inches Coromandel wood or Calamander wood is a valuable wood from India, Sri Lanka and South East Asia. It is of a hazel-brown color, with black stripes (or the other way about), very heavy and hard. It is also known as Macassar Ebony or variegated ebony and is closely related to genuine ebony, but is obtained from different species in the same genus; one of these is Diospyros quaesita Thwaites, from Sri Lanka. The name Calamander comes from the local sinhalese name, 'kalu-medhiriya', which means dark chamber; referring to the characteristic ebony black wood. Coromandel wood has been logged to extinction over the last 2 to 3 hundred years and is no longer available for new work in any quantity. Furniture in coromandel is so expensive and so well looked after that even recycling it is an unlikely source. A substitute, Macassar Ebony, has similar characteristics and to the untrained eye is nearly the same but it lacks the depth of colour seen in genuine Coromandel. Bramah is London's oldest security company. Established at 124 Piccadilly, London in 1784, and today based in Marylebone, London and Romford, Essex. Bramah made their first lock in 1784 and the patent was awarded in 1787. The designer was Joseph Bramah. Joseph Bramah was a leading inventor of the industrial revolution, patenting over 18 new ideas, including a new valve for the water closet (toilet), the hydraulic pump, a fountain pen, and a fire engine. Bramah also introduced a beer hand pump for use at the bar, to prevent fluid loss when barmen went downstairs to pour a new jug! Due to the quality of his manufacturing, his name became a by-word amongst British Engineers for engineering excellence and many of his inventions are on display in the Science Museum in London. You can find one of his original toilets still working in Osborne House, Queen Victoria's home on the Isle of Wight. The Bramah lock was unique and advanced property and valuables protection enormously. Indeed it was 50 years ahead of any Chubb lock...

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