Such a beautiful old box, this c.1850 beauty isn't lost a bit of its superb inlays. It has a very pleasing combination of rosewood, brass stringing, brass, silver, mother of pearl, abalone creating a stunning decorative work, sewing or jewelry box. The box is 9.5" x 6.5" and is nearly 4" tall. Early Victorian or Napoleon III era, the cross-stringing interior lid would have held patterns, letters, tucked into the strings.
Very good to excellent condition for age and type. the inlays are all complete, which is quite rare. The work is gorgeous and so is the wood. You can see a couple of tight hairlines of age/shrinkage on the lid but you've got to go looking for them. Interior is the old original silk fabric, and apart from fading and a couple of spots on the bottom, it remains in very nice condition. No odors. The box has no warp, closed smoothly, and there is a working lock but at listing time we do not have a key for it. Priced without key. We'll see if we can fit one, but will annotate if so, and raise price accordingly.
