Description
Heading : Tunbridge Ware – Jewellery Box Depicting The Pantiles
Date : c1895
Period : Victorian
Origin : Tunbridge Wells; England
Decoration : An image of The Pantiles set in to a rosewood panel inside two plain pieces of key-line stringing; further continuous and banded keys run along both sides of a floral wool-work border which is set on the curved edges of the lid; rosewood veneers; the four concave sides decorated with a broader wool-work frieze; internally. a single undivided well. liined with what would appear to be original burnt-orange satin; there are no supports for the sort of tray which is often found in boxes of this nature; the underside of the base is completely flush with no edging and – unusually – is lined with brown paper. which once again may well be original.
Size : 23.8 x 18.6 x 10.4 cm
Condition : Excellent; there are a couple of missing tesserae to one corner of the lid-top wool-work. and two small cracks through the same frieze on the back edge where the hinge fixing has very slightly deformed the wood (a common issue); there are some very fine fissures to the wool-work on the sides of the box. but everything is firmly seated; little or no physical damage by way of bumps or bruises. There are some very slight machined abrasions to the front edge of the lid. possibly from manufacture; the interior is clean and in good condition; no key.
Restoration : None; possible relining as above
Weight : 936 grams
Notes : The image on this box is undoubtedly derived from Henry Hollamby’s rendering of The Pantiles. It is known that Hollamby’s materials – including the template for this design – passed to Boyce. Brown & Kemp in the 1890’s. and there are several points which would indicate that it is a piece made by this later concern. The marquetry uses a number of much longer tesserae than usual. a feature of BBK’s work. and neither the lining paper. lining material or wool-work friezes are similar to anything used by Thomas Barton who made many earlier boxes using Hollamby’s designs. This remains however the most iconic image ever produced on Tunbridge Ware
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