Tunbridge Ware Glovebox with Mosaic of Muckross Abbey c1870

Description

Heading : Tunbridge Ware Glovebox with Mosaic depicting Muckross Abbey
Date : c1870
Period : Victorian
Origin : Tunbridge Wells
Decoration : The rounded. flat-ended lid has an image of Muckross Abbey set with Golden Satinwood. and bounded with banded and continuous keylines; further banded keylines frame a narrow geometric-pattern band; Has an oak-leaf and acorn Berlin Wool-work frieze to all four flat sides within the same banded and continuous keylines. Lined with the original red satin.
Size : 26.5 cm wide – 10.1 cm deep – 9.9 cm high
Condition : Excellent with regard to tile completeness – there are barely half a dozen missing pieces. two or three of which are contiguous; extremely slight bumps and bruises to the edges. entirely commensurate with age; a small. round indentation to one end face and a similarly insignificant ding to the lid.
Restoration : Professionally cleaned and polished
Weight : 484g

Note : Muckross Abbey. in Ireland. may seem a strange subject for a piece of Tunbridge Ware. but its relevance is two-fold; firstly – as you can see – it is almost the archetypal ruin. with its tower. window tracery. vaults and walls;. in addition to this it is the burial place of four of Ireland’s most renowned romantic poets (O’Donoghue. O’Rahilly. Ferriter and O’Sullivan) whose works were enjoying a resurgence in popularity at the time this piece was produced.