Michael Pashby Antiques http://www.michaelpashbyantiques.com/shop/asian-campaign-colonial/naval-interest-georgian-traveling-writing-box-and-safe/ Export date: Mon May 13 5:48:31 2024 / +0000 GMT |
Naval Interest: Georgian Traveling Writing Box and SafeInventory Number: : 170-131 Price: SOLD 20 ins wide 11 ins deep (closed) 23 1/2 ins deep (opened) 9 1/2 ins high For more information please contact us TELEPHONE. 917 414 1827 EMAIL. [email protected] www.michaelpashbyantiques.com © Michael Pashby Antiques.
DESCRIPTIONExceptional is a description well overused by the antiques trade, but this piece is genuinely worthy of that description. It is a piece we have owned before which was placed in one of the great US collections of campaign and naval artifacts. When it once again became available we were proud to reacquire it. A finely made piece of interesting design and very well chosen timbers clearly made by a very skilled craftsman. Although a relatively standard shape and design the traveling desk offers refinements that only the very wealthy could afford, and no expense was spared in its execution. It has been suggested that the purpose was to deter theft while traveling but it may well have had the added advantage of stabilizing the box in choppy seas on a voyage and could well have been commissioned for naval use. When we first acquired this piece more than a decade ago in Scotland it was assumed to be a unique commission. However a second example with minor variations subsequently surfaced around 2010 at Christopher Clarke Antiques. No further examples are known as yet and it remains a rare and extraordinary piece. England or possibly Scotland, late 18th or Early 19th century, c. 1800 Provenance:
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