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Antique Boxes at the Sign of the Hygra 2 Middleton Road, London, E8 4BL, UK. (by appointment only) PHONE: 00 44 (0)20 7254 7074
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Knife boxes were made for a very short period in the late 18th Century and very beginning of the 19th century. The two main shapes are: 1.Deep boxes in variations of serpentine shapes with sloping lids, sometimes standing on feet or pediments. 2. Urn shaped boxes in polygonal or rounded shapes. Both were fitted with a mahogany interior lid with cut out slots enabling the knives to stand up in place.
The deep boxes were of thick mahogany or occasionally of satinwood veneers. They were inlaid either in the designs popular on 18th century tea caddies or painted. Some fine examples depended on the figure of the wood and silver mounts for their aesthetic appeal. The urn boxes were veneered in sections with fine stringing in between. The top " is kept up by a small spring which is fixed to the stem which supports the top;" according to George Hepplewhite. The said stem was a central rod which culminated on the lid. These boxes were superseded by large utilitarian cutlery boxes.
© 1999 Antigone Clarke and Joseph O'Kelly
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