Featured Gentleman's Writing Slope - 1882

It's done! It's done! It's done!!


A working key and lock!!


Opened up. Clean and pretty




Silver-plated propelling pencil.
Antique dip-pen.
Page-turner. Made of IVORY!!


Storage compartment filled with nibs and a seal (inside little tin box). And four sticks of sealing-wax. Gold. Silver. Red. Blue.

I also filled the organiser with paper for writing, and put the bone-folder in the storage-compartment between the inkwells for future use.

 

Awesome piece,great job.

 

Well done!

 

Nice makeover!

 

Lovely!

 

Thanks for the feedback, ladies and gentlemen. I wish I could photograph it in a way which made it look better than it does, in those pictures, but it ain't easy.

 

Looks Gr8.
As to ownership , after dealing in some of Oz's best 18th & 19thC boxes i believe I am qualified to have an opinion regarding likely owenership.
People of such means would Not 'simply wrtie their mansion's name on an aide memoir'.
They would have had plaque's made & applied to their boxes.
It May have been a 'head house keepers' "lap top" , Or a child's 'play thing' {family child}.
People that owned this house , would Not have such a piece as their own.
Known as "dispatch case" Or "dispatch box" , even though your's may like nice restored ........... these people would have had the best of the Best & Not a piece from the 3rd shelf.
They would be buying from the top shelf!
I personally , would value & appreciate the piece ~ as the piece.
Cheers.
N.Borrelli.

 

Hi Nick,

You make a pretty good point. And you're right, I have seen boxes like that with plaques/engravings on them, so it is a possibility.

A box like this would've been expensive in the 1870s or 1880s. I doubt they would've bought it JUST for a kid to play around with. But it belonging to someone of lower station might make sense.

I think I'll just appreciate it and use it. It's why I bought it

 

Hi,
You did a wonderful job on fixing it up.
greg

 

The thing is both theories are mysteries and we can not be certain of either, but it is nice to speculate and take yourself back sometimes to where it may have been. I love the passion you have for it and putting that and similar items back to they're original glory, likely not a lot of people who would take the time to do that. I don't know about having a name plate on every thing they owned....not so far fetched to think someone wrote their name on anything, but it is a mystery....at least you know at some time where it was likely...
You did a beautiful job of restoring it and I liked watching the progression. I also remember the sewing machine you took such great pains in completing
We all kind of buy what we like

 

I'm inclined to think that Nick's theory does make a bit more sense. I was actually contacted by a descendant of the Balfour family, and he said he did not recall such an item being listed in any of the household records. He was grandmother was like, Mr. Balfour's daughter or something, and remained living at one of their old estates until she died.