What wood are they usually made from?

Oak dominates. It is named in about a third of titles on Sellingantiques, against mahogany at roughly half that rate. Beyond the two staples, single listings record burr satinwood, inlaid mahogany and a French satinwood and cut-steel box of about 1820.

Were these used in the street?

Mostly no. The archive is overwhelmingly domestic and institutional: boxes for a hall, a hotel lobby, a boarding school. Public cast-iron boxes do appear, in pillar, pole-mounted and wall forms, but they are under one in ten of what has been listed.

How do you date a cast-iron post box?

By the royal cypher. The public boxes recorded are identified by reign rather than form, with Edward VII, George V and George VI all present. The latest dated piece in the archive is a 1940 cast-iron box with its original enamel collection plate, and a 1938 pole-mounted box with a domed top sits just behind it.

Why do dates look so vague in the listings?

Because they often are. Only about half of the listings carry a clean year, and "19th Century" on its own accounts for a large share of the rest, with Victorian and Edwardian labels behind that. Where years do appear, the decade tags gather in the 1900s and 1920s, with smaller groups in the 1880s, 1890s, 1910s and 1930s. Labels and years can also disagree within a single entry, such as a George V box tagged Georgian.

Are hotel boxes different from country house ones?

Not always in construction. Several titles hedge with "hotel or country house", the same box serving either setting. Hotel examples do skew larger and free-standing, made for a lobby, and the group includes Art Deco pieces. They account for about one in six listings.

How often do they come up for sale?

Around nine a year on Sellingantiques, from a pool of 42 different dealers who have listed one. That works out at a single example for most dealers who handle them, so it isn't a category anyone specialises in.

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A small lockable wooden box with a posting slot, made to gather outgoing letters inside a house, hotel or institution rather than to stand in the street.

A Wonderful Victorian Oak In-house Letterbox

1900 - 1920

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A Wonderful Victorian Oak In-house Letterbox

From The Dorking Desk Shop

£825

FOR SALE

boxes

19th century

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19th Century Carved Oak Correspondence, Post or Letter Box

From Elmgarden

£600

FOR SALE

boxes

19th century

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19th C Country House Letter Box

From Mytton Antiques - Jerrard Nares

£545

FOR SALE

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A Wonderful Victorian Oak In-house Letterbox

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