Are knife boxes usually sold in pairs?

No. Roughly four in five listings are single boxes. Pairs account for about a fifth of titles, and they take up almost the whole top half of the range. One is listed as a matched pair, meaning two boxes brought together rather than made as a set.

What wood are they made from?

Mahogany, in around two thirds of titles. It is the default to the point that anything else stands out. Satinwood, walnut, oak, shagreen and coromandel turn up only at the edges of the archive, sometimes as inlay or banding rather than the whole case.

How old are Georgian knife boxes?

The dealers' own dating is Georgian in the loose sense, which covers anything from the middle of the 18th century to the 1820s. Only twenty of the 111 listings carry a clean year. Where a circa date does appear in a title, it runs from about 1740 to 1820. The dated field as a whole spans 1750 to 1890.

Why are some described as stationery boxes?

About one in ten cases in the archive has been repurposed. Three titles say "Converted" outright, and one pair is described as former cutlery boxes. The slotted cutlery tray has been altered or removed in these, leaving an open case suited to letters and paper. Listings that say complete, or original fitted interior, are describing the opposite.

Do knife boxes carry a maker's name?

Not in this category. A scan across all 111 listings returned no cabinetmaker, retailer or workshop name at all. Where "Sheraton" appears in a title, it is a period style label for a lighter, inlaid look, not an attribution.

What is a cutlery urn?

The pedestal form: a vase or urn shape on a base, with a lid that rises on a central stem to bring the cutlery up. It came in later in the 18th century than the sloping case. On Sellingantiques it appears four times, and all four sit in the upper part of the range.