Three Drawer Tunbridge Ware Jewellery Cabinet / Work Box

Description

Heading : Tunbridge Ware – A Large Three Drawer Jewellery Cabinet and Work Box with Additional Tray
Date : c1925
Period : George V
Origin : Tunbridge Wells. England
Decoration : Three mosaic images set within geometric borders; to the top face. a bird in flight with wheat ears and a poppy. with floral compositions to both doors; the three drawers and the front of the top tray layer each have ten-square geometric bands; the tray – revealed by lfiting the lid – is red satin lined and has ten compartments. one with it’s own lift-out lid. one with a pin cushion. one with a thimble holder and one containing a needle book. covered in matching material; the needle book and three drawers are all lined with the same red and gold paper; the whole sits on a canted base with four flattened bun feet; working lock and key
Size : 18.3 cm tall x 24.5 cm wide x 18.3 cm deep
Condition : Excellent; being of more recent provenance than many Tunbridge Ware items. this chest is in near-flawless condition. although still almost 100 years old; there are just one or two  missing tesserae. and nothing else of note to record – almost pristine.
Restoration : none
Weight :  1375 grams

Note : This chest is a very close match to one shown in the product catalogue of the Tunbridge Wells Manufacturing Co. and its condition – and the somewhat indistinct nature of the mosaics – are both absolutely representative of an item from that source; the bird motif has been noted on an earlier book slide. which was likely made by Henry Hollamby and thus dating to the latter part of the 19th century.

After the fire which terminally damaged his workshop. and Hollamby’s own demise. much of his stock ended up with the TWM Co – via Boyce. Brown & Kemp – and the repeated use of the original templates to reproduce later ‘copies’ is one factor which led to the loss of definition.