Featured The best "Anglo-Indian box" paper I've ever read

Ah. I saw a couple of boxes with white discs inlaid into them and I just assumed these were discs of porcupine quills but you are probably right that they are ivory. Thanks for the link. I never realised how rare these are.

 

These deeply carved ebony boxes and porcupine quill boxes are both from Ceylon but miles apart in value, a very good porcupine quill box (one that has the most amounts of ivory dots like this
https://www.sellingantiques.co.uk/8...upine-quill-box-jewellery-treasure-bone-ebony )
instead of a box with a small amount of dots like this
https://huntvintage.co/decor/decor-...-porcupine-quill-ebony-fitted-workbox-c-19thc
Maybe the difference between 200-300 for low amount of dots Vs 400-600 for high amount of dots.
The deeply carved ebony boxes like yours are 700-4500, a writing slope in the same manor is about the most desirable writing slope you can get.

 

I do have a porcupine quill box and I use it to keep receipts in. The quality is not that great but it serves a purpose. It has these dots on the inside so that’s why I assumed that the same material would be used in other Ceylonese boxes but as you’ve pointed out, not all boxes are created equal. My Galle box is in pretty good shape. There is a tiny crack on one side near a join but otherwise the carving and general condition are very good. I guess this will affect the value to some degree.

 

Not really, they often have cracks and splits, that's the nature of ebony and especially Galle boxes

 

What I call a porcupine quill box but I do have a vizagapatam box covered with porcupine quills

 

This is what I would call a Ceylonese ebony carved box

 

Here’s the quill box together with the Galle box. The quill box has seen better days and serves a more practical use than ornamental.

 

Love the Vizagapatam box by the way. Absolutely beautiful. I have som smaller examples but nothing as fetching as that.

 

The quill box reminds me of my first quill box, I only changed it when I got my hands on the one in the photo.
The Galle box is just amazing, what a find and for only £25, I'm well jealous lol.
Normally I wouldn't mention a table but in your case I think I should, what a fab Nagina table, really big and well carved, again with the jealousy lol (mines smaller) So I will finish with photos of my other 3 Galle boxes

 

Absolutely stunning. Really wonderful pieces. Now who’s jealous?

 

I took a punt on a writing slope selling on ebay a few days ago, bad photos and a poor description left me feeling apprehensive when it arrived today. It was sold as a sandalwood carved box (I knew it was a writing slope with no insides left) but when it arrived today and I opened it I was over the moon, I don't think it's much past 1830 in date and the carving is just magnificent, the best carved box I own and the real bonus it it's solid ebony, normally carved ebony aren't Mysore and if they are they are not solid ebony rather just panels applied to a lesser wood box. It needs a lot of work but what a writing slope, I don't think I've ever seen one in ebony. I'll do a full post on it when I've cleaned it, and hopefully restored it.

 

Whooeeee. Someone did a pile of work carving that, and in ebony yet. I don't even want to think about it.

 

According to the article it took 3-6 months for a master carver to produce, when I get the restoration finished I'll take photos to show how deep the carving is.

 

I can believe it. These days factory pieces are done in hours.

 

bad photos and a poor description.........

don't we often find the best stuff that way ?????

Good 4 U , Raver !!!!!!

 

Yeah we thank people who can't list fab items on ebay, my favourite kind of ebayer.
This was the original listing https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/375949160794
Doesn't look ebony at all

 

I've always wondered if fine wood carving will be faked by CNC, the only problem will be writing the code for just one piece and then I don't think it would be worth doing for what an original would sell for.

 

maybe , one day...when AI , knows not to produce the exact same design , more than once.........eh?

 

helps to know your boxes !!!!!!!!

 

Very good point, I'm sure with the right program these could be knocked up in no time. Although you do still need to buy the wood, Sandalwood and ebony aren't cheap and then you would need to age it. When choosing what I collected in the beginning I had seen what happened to pottery collectors and other antique markets that suffered at the hands of fakes, now I only really collect items with rare or impossible to get materials for that reason.