The pierced body is hand engraved with bamboo and the basket stands on four bamboo feet.

Bamboo symbolises resilience – it bends in the wind and comes back up

A perfect wedding or anniversary present

Excellent condition.

The can shaped pot is engraved with a motto -“love of the country leads me”  – the US Army motto!

The tea pot has an ebony handle and finial, a flat hinge  and a straight spout and is  very much in the style of 100 years earlier

A very elegant pot – perfect for tea for two

The shape and engine turning is typical of the period

Solid silver lids

Perfect men’s gifts

There is mark of Diana’s head in a curved lozenge indicating that the holder was made in Vienna – in the last days of the Austro Hungarian Empire and dates from the 1870’s

Garlands curve around the holder against basket work detail with flowers.

Garlands form the handles

This Viennese silver holder retains some of the original gilding

The straight elegant lines have just a touch of detail – the reed and ribbon decoration around the base and the top

By Goldsmiths and Silversmiths these candlestick are very much quality

Gentleman’s dressing cases would contain bottles and jars for colognes, aftershaves and creams as well as essential shaving and manicure tools. As these boxes became more popular, many further travelling item options were offered for inclusion. By the early Victorian era, ladies also began to travel and suddenly their requirements were anything but utilitarian! Ladies dressing cases could feature a wide range of decorative bottles and jars as well as a vast array of beautification tools, all designed with pure luxury in mind. The exterior of the box became almost as important as the interior and these boxes started being veneered with beautiful exotic woods from all over the world.

These boxes, with their excessive price tags, were now considered as true works of art and beauty in their own right, and were often bought as status symbols rather than actual travelling companions.

This burl wood vanity case  would have been specially commissioned for a lady with all the jars and the manicure set.

The initials of the original owner are inlaid into the top and are also engraved on the silver pieces

The back bottles would have held perfumes and colognes, the one lying on its  side may have been for smelling salts.  The long one at the front would have been for a tooth brush and tooth paste.

The top layer lifts to give space for treasures.

The bottom drawer pops out when a button at the centre of the hinged lid  is pressed .  The leather top of that drawer would have been for writing.  The top lifts to reveal a fitted space for rings and other jewels.

The velvet lined lid comes out and there is a mirror. This opens to form a pouch for letters.

Everything has been thought of.

Pack one large vanity burl wood box , lock it up for safety ( the original keys are still here ) and you could go on your travels

Ovoid reserve on lid has been engraved with

Presented to

Ar S.Sgt G M Avenall A.O.C.

BY

The Members of the Sargts Mess

1st Batt, Sherwood Foresters

As a Mark of Esteem on his leaving the Mess

After 6 Years Membership

A lot of history

The water pitcher was a Golden wedding gift in 1899 celebrating 50 years of marriage  – hence the gilding

The initials of the original owners are engraved on one side with the years of marriage  : 1849 GHSWG 1899

There is an empty reserve on the opposite side of the jug just waiting for another happy couple who are celebrating their golden wedding

A superb and heavy  quality piece, this jug is such good example of the form popular in the last years of the 19th century