What is the difference between a casket and a box?

In practice, nothing. The two words are used for the same objects in dealer titles, and both often appear in a single title. A veneered jewellery box and a jewellery casket are the same form. "Casket" simply carries the sense of a decorative, lockable container rather than a plain one.

Which woods turn up most often?

Walnut leads, with burr walnut close behind, then rosewood and coromandel. Those four cover a large part of the British 19th-century group. Amboyna, kingwood, satinwood, burr yew and bird's-eye maple appear too, usually on the more elaborate boxes. Oak, pine and mahogany sit at the plainer end.

How old are these usually?

The bulk is 19th century. Around 168 listings say "19th Century" and a further 71 say Victorian, so the stated period is frequently a century or a reign rather than a year. Where decades are named, they gather in the 1860s, 1880s, 1870s and 1900s, with Regency also well represented. The dated field runs from 1700 to 1950.

Are French caskets common on Sellingantiques?

Yes. France supplies the single most recognisable type, with 92 titles naming it. The usual form is a gilt-metal frame glazed with bevelled or opaline glass, made as a jewellery casket. Ormolu is named in 38 titles and gilt bronze in a dozen more, and Napoleon III turns up repeatedly as a period label.

Do pre-1800 caskets appear?

They do, but rarely. Titles carry 18th century sixteen times, with a handful given to the 16th and 17th centuries. What has come through includes a wrought-iron domed casket, an iron-bound casket, a Welsh oak chip-carved box, an olive wood lace box and a Flemish ebony and kingwood table cabinet. Dealers sometimes contradict themselves on dating, labelling an 1820s Regency box as 18th century.

What unusual forms have been recorded?

A box made as two stacking books, a cast-metal box modelled on a 13th-century coffer, and a Black Forest carved monkey tobacco casket. Others include a painted box in the shape of a country-house facade, a pigeon-shaped lead and brass urn, and a hardstone Chinese head rest with box. Origins seen once or twice run to Afghan, Batavian, Qajar Iranian, Ottoman, Palestinian olivewood and Siamese niello.

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Antique Caskets

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A casket is a small lidded table box, usually lockable and lined or fitted inside, made to hold jewellery, letters, sewing tools, gloves or scent bottles.