Writing slope

Maker & role
Unknown, Maker
 Production date
circa 1840-circa 1850

Object detail

Production place
Kent/England
Collection
Vaucluse House
Measurements
1 - Writing slope, L: 57 x W: 37 x D: 7.1cm (L: 570 x W: 370 x D: 71mm); 6 - Lid belonging to compartment, H: 2.4 x W: 21.8cm (H: 24 x W: 218mm); 7 - Pen rest, L: 23.8 x W: 4.6 x D: 1.8cm (L: 238 x W: 46 x D: 18mm)
Production notes
'Tunbridge ware. Small wooden objects lavishly decorated with parquetry or marquetry patterns by a special method developed at Tunbridge Wells (Kent) in the late c17 and sometimes imitated elsewhere. Each unit of the design was built up out of sticks of various coloured woods (each about 6 inches long) glued together so the ends formed the pattern. The pattern could then be repeated identically on nearly thirty sheets by slicing the block transversely. In the early c19 the decorations were sometimes based on the floral designs used in Berlin woolwork, although geometrical patterns and little pictures of buildings and landscapes in and around Tunbridge Wells were always more popular. Products included games boards, small boxes, picture-frames, pin-trays etc and sometimes larger items such as writing-boxes and games-tables.'
Credit line
Purchase, 2005
Vaucluse House Collection, Museums of History New South Wales
Description
Writing box in rosewood with inset panels of Tunbridge ware decoration. The top is decorated with a wide border of roses and dahlias with the Tunbridge ware resembling Berlin woolwork embroidery. The upper hinged panel (enclosing the pen and ink caddy) is decorated with a bordered cartouche of roses. The lower (that folds out to form the writing slope) is decorated with a scene of a castle (Warwick ?) with prominent gatehouse. The flared sides of the box are decorated with a narrower border of roses, again resembling Berlin woolwork. The caddy contains a pair of inkwells with Tunbridge ware covers, a lift-out pen tray, a lift out cover for a compartment with a geometric Tunbridge ware border and a small lidded box, possibly for stamps. The upper hinged section may be locked over the lower by a key.
Accession number
V2005/8-1:10

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