Wonderful antique Victorian era Black Forest hand carved 9.25" jewelry box, a serpentine shaped casket with foliate accents, scrolled cabriole style legs/feet & large two-bird & foliage figural top! Beautiful, I just love the shaping of this one, covered in carved accenting, held aloft with the original scrolled feet and it retains its royal blue velvet lining and piping but is missing the old original skeleton key.
“Black Forest” refers to the Schwarzwald region of southern Germany, which became famous in the 19th century for highly skilled woodcarving, cottage-industry production (family workshops and export luxury goods for Britain, France, and the U.S. By the Victorian period, Black Forest carving had become extremely fashionable, especially among the middle and upper classes. A lovely larger box here!
Very good condition, age & materials considered. The exterior is in wonderful shape. There is what looks like a tiny nip to the smaller/lower bird's beak and also to the larger bird's rear wingtip (only visible from back). Possibly another small nip or two but, as you can see, it's been well cared for over its 100+ years. Original scrolled feet & hardware, lock, etc. are original but it does not have a working key. There are some whitish spots in the base of the interior, not sure what they are but definitely not mold, they look like pitting in the velvet's nap. See pictures for all measurements.
