Doe and Hope

Description

The top with twin hinged lids, the smaller for ink, the larger for pens, with heart shaped motif and inscribed 1754 with the initials GJD, with botanical and religious themed stylised carved decoration to all four-side panels sitting on a moulded plinth base.

The condition is generally good, with one end of the larger hinged lid loose, but the whole is sound and with a superb colour and patination.

Once an integral part of a Georgian family home, this box would have sat upon a writing desk or slope and had the advantage of being portable. The heart motif on this example suggests it may have perhaps been a gift from a wife to a husband. Notable events in the year 1754 included the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews being founded in Scotland, formally writing down the rules of golf for the first time, and Horace Walpole coining the word serendipity.

In original condition, this is a wonderfully tactile and incredibly enchanting piece of naive early Georgian desktop furniture.