Anglo-Indian Bone Inlaid Nest of Tables

PRESENTING A LOVELY 19C Anglo Indian Vizagapatam Bone and Shell Domed Stationery Box – ‘Alice’s Box’. Made in Vizagapatam, India, circa 1860-80. We call this one: “Alice’s Box”! It has lived ‘a hard, well used and traveled life’, as is evident from the number of losses and repairs, as is obvious from the photos, especially to the faux ivory panels and bands to the top. The bonus to the loss of the frieze panels to the dome has a ‘bonus’, however, as their loss has revealed the most GORGEOUS faux blonde tortoiseshell underneath! The box is dome/casket shaped. The top has 3 bands, with the center one being the original. The 2 side bands are later ivorine. The faux ivory and hand-painted medallions on the domed lid, have been saved and they depict Hindu Gods, Vishnu and Shiva. The front and side panels are still in pretty good shape and are decorated with lac ink (indelible ink made from crushed beetles) depicting lovely floral designs. The domed lid open to reveal a series of open compartments for envelopes, writing paper etc. and one lidded panel for stamps. Inside the box are 2 paper labels: one probably being the original item ticket and the other with: ” Alice’s address is 272 Ashworth Ave, Toronto 4, Ontario”. Probably, the original owner? Hence, we call it ‘Alice’s Box’. What a journey/life this box has had! Made in India, made its way to Canada, back to Ireland and then to Texas! This is why, WE LOVE ANTIQUES...

19C Anglo Indian solid silver perfume bottle case. Lovely 19th century Anglo-Indian solid silver perfume bottle case with profuse repousse work. Not hallmarked because it was m...

Presenting a superb 19C Anglo Indian Sadeli Mosaic greeting card case. Made in or around Bombay, India circa 1880. This is a greeting card case used for holding your greeting cards or business cards of the day ! The body of the case is made from sandalwood and it is fully overlaid with bone and highly intricate Sadeli Mosaic made up of thousands of micro mosaic pieces of bone, ebony, silver/pewter and semi precious stone. The workmanship is stupenduous !!!! This case is almost museum quality. One or two very, very minor losses of mosaic mainly where the top meets the body but otherwise near mint ! 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...

PRESENTING AN EXCEPTIONAL 20C Anglo Indian Style Double Sided Profusely Inlaid 4 Panel Screen or Room Divider. Made in Hoshiarpur, India, circa 1960-80. Made of ‘teak’ wood in the ...

PRESENTING A RARE AND DESIRABLE 19C Anglo Indian Highly Carved Padouk and Mosaic Folio Cover. This is a VERY RARE piece of Anglo-Indian and British Victorian Colonial history! ...

PRESENTING A GORGEOUS 19C Anglo Indian Rosewood Caddy with Silver Mounts. Really nice and unusual, 19th Century Anglo-Indian Spice or Tea Caddy, from cir...

Regency inlaid nest of tables a mahogany and burl lattice parquetry nest of two tables, with turned end supports and on splay feet. Dimensions: 19.25...

A beautiful and elegant French Louis XV style nest of tables, dating from around the 1920-30’s period. The quality is fabulous, these are very well made with a beautiful inlaid desi...

A beautifully made antique inlaid nest of three tables. They were made in England, they date from around the 1950’s. The quality is superb, they have gorgeous tops with cross banded...

A stunning antique French inlaid nest of tables. This was made in France, it dates from around the 1930’s. The quality is fantastic, this is beautifully made with gorgeous inlays on...

A fabulous Edwardian nest of four richly patinated mahogany tables, of exceptional quality, finely carved and beautifully inlaid throughout. The well figured, moulded, galleried and...

This set of five graduated stacking tables show no maker's marks, but are presumed to have originated from India and dating to approximately 1920 and done in an Anglo-Indian style. T...