Fine Tunbridge Ware Card Case with Isometric Cubes and Floral Mosaic c1860

Description

Heading : Tunbridge Ware – A Visiting Card Case with Isometric Cubes and Floral Mosaic
Date : c1860
Period : Victorian
Origin : Tunbridge Wells
Decoration : An intricate floral mosaic in the style of Berlin wool-work to one side. set in a composite background rather than a solid reserve; surrounded by continuous keyline stringing and a five-square geometric border. To the other side. a marvellous. small-scale example of the classic Tunbridge Ware ‘isometric cubes’ pattern; this features a number of the veneers favoured by the best makers – palmeira. ebony or coromandel and green oak; this is set within continuous stringing and a three-square geometric border; to the four narrow edges of the case. a nine-square geometric border within banded keylines. Internally. a fitted wooden sleeve with thumb-cut apertures.
Size : 10.5 x 7.3 x 1.2 cm
Condition : Very good; tiles almost entirely in place and all well-seated; all faces/edges are a little worn through use; two tiny 6mm slivers of edge veneer are missing from the bottom edge of the top part of the box
Restoration : None

Weight :  52 grams

Notes : This is a fantastic little box. exhibiting the best of Tunbridge Ware when used in ‘miniature’. surpassed only by the work on some stamp boxes which us tesserae of less than 1mm in width for their portraits. The profusion of green oak pieces used hint very strongly that this came from the workshops of Thomas Barton; it is the perfect size for present-day credit cards and can receive four without issue