Circa 1790 English George III Inlaid Mahogany Serpentine Knife Box

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Description

An exceptional late 18th-century English George III knife or cutlery box, circa 1790, crafted in richly figured mahogany with an … Read more An exceptional late 18th-century English George III knife or cutlery box, circa 1790, crafted in richly figured mahogany with an elegant serpentine front, sloping hinged lid, fine contrasting string inlay, and beautifully aged brass hardware.

The sculptural bowed façade and architectural profile are characteristic of Georgian knife boxes made for display on the dining-room sideboard, where they served as both decorative objects and secure storage for a household’s valuable cutlery.

The interior retains its particularly impressive hand-cut removable mahogany cutlery fitting, individually pierced with an elaborate arrangement of shaped apertures designed to accommodate knives and serving implements of varying forms and sizes. Subtle variations among the individually worked openings and graduated crescent-shaped slots reveal the hand craftsmanship of the fitting.

The interior perimeter retains a closely spaced row of small metal tacks associated with an early textile lining treatment. A brown felt lining, believed to be a later replacement or restoration of an earlier textile lining, remains in the interior. A later felt covering on the underside has been carefully removed, revealing the solid wood bottom and remnants of old adhesive.

The mahogany has been French polished, bringing out the exceptional depth, warmth, and figuring of the wood while preserving the character and patina appropriate to a piece more than two centuries old.

The box retains its old brass hardware and slotted screws and displays the honest evidence of its considerable age, including surface craquelure, shrinkage, veneer movement, minor losses, and evidence of historic repairs. These characteristics contribute to the beautifully aged appearance of this circa-1790 Georgian piece.

A wonderful example of late Georgian craftsmanship, made especially desirable by its dramatic serpentine form and survival of the elaborate hand-cut fitted cutlery interior.

Dimensions: 14” H × 9.5” W × 10.5” D See less