Heading : Tunbridge Ware - Ladies Handkerchief Box with Berlin Wool-work Rose Mosaic
Date : c1860
Period : Victorian
Origin : England; Tunbridge Wells
Decoration : Cushion-shaped lid with flat panel within four convex edges; features a rose mosaic set within a holly veneer panel and surrounded by one coloured and banded and two continuous keylines; the same combination of keys form the outer border to a floral mosaic band around the outer edge of the lid, and also to both edges of a continuous, narrower floral mosaic band to all four sides of the box, set within rosewood veneers; lined to the inside of both lid and well with the original green silk; outer base lined with embossed paper
Size : 15.4 cm wide x 15.0 cm deep x 6.4 cm high
Condition : Excellent; missing tesserae are barely in double figures, with a strip of five contiguous losses to one corner and three or four missing from one of the banded keylines being the only significant flaws; the body is almost entirely unmarked; the base liner is torn and rather patchy but - of course - this is only visible upon close inspection
Restoration : None
Weight :  346 grams

Note : The sparing use of green oak tesserae and the nature of the design indicate that this may well be an early example of the work of Thomas Barton, perhaps prior to him taking over the business of his one-time employer Edmund Nye in 1862