A Tunbridge Ware Postage Stamp Box c1890

Description

Heading : Tunbridge Ware – A Postage Stamp Box c1890
Date : late 19th or early 20th century
Period : Victorian/Edwardian
Origin : Tunbridge Wells; England
Decoration : A two-part separate lid and base box; the top features the word STAMPS in marquetry within banded and plain keyline stringing; five-square geometric bands run along all four edges of both the lid and base. each enclosed by a pair of continuous keyline strings. 
Size : 6.4 x 3.5 x 1.9 cm
Condition : Excellent; no missing tiles
Restoration : None
Weight :  17 grams

Note : boxes of this nature are. unfortunately. rather generic and therefore almost impossible to match with their manufacturers; it has been suggested that Henry Hollamby was the first to use micro-mosaics to create lettering. but this then became ‘common knowledge’ and widely used; the latest date for the production of our box would seem to be 1916 with the closure of the Boyce. Brown & Kemp concern. as there is nothing of this nature listed in the later Tunbridge Wells Manufacturing Co catalogues…