Tunbridge Ware – Velvet Lined Box with Photograph of St Boniface Parish Church, Ventnor c 1865

Description

Heading :  Tunbridge Ware – Velvet Lined Box with Photograph of St Boniface Parish Church. Ventnor 
Date : c 1865
Period : Victorian
Origin : Tunbridge Wells; England
Decoration : Maple veneered box; hinged lid and base with plush amaranth velvet lining; to the lid – a mounted and lacquered photograph of St Boniface Parish Church. Bonchurch. near Ventnor on the Isle of Wight; bounded by separate four and five-square geometric bands within pairs of continuous key-line stringing; to the four sides of the lower part of the box. a continuous band of small Van Dyke triangles. within banded and continuous key-line stringing and with each triangular tesserae with its own banded border; based lined with black. textured paper bearing a gold stamp for the retailer (see below)
Size :  14.9 x 9.9 x 5.0 cm
Condition : Excellent; a very few missing tesserae including a ‘disturbed’ area to once corner of the lid top. with a couple of losses; a few minor bumps and bruises elsewhere. and some stains to the photograph; overall. a smart. good-looking piece
Restoration : none
Weight :  185 grams

Notes : The production of boxes with photographs affixed was the preserve of Henry Hollamby; one of the outlets for these pieces were the booksellers Knight & Son who were based in Ventnor; we’re not sure quite what the Tunbridge Wells to Isle of Wight connection may have been. but it was clearly lucrative for Hollamby who produced items featuring a number of different images that originated from the locality. others including Shanklin Chine and Bonchurch Pond. The process was a throwback to earlier Tunbridge Ware boxes. which had been decorated with hand-tinted prints or line drawings. as they pre-dated the advent of commercial photography.