What woods were vanity boxes made from?

Rosewood leads, appearing in roughly a quarter of titles on Sellingantiques. Coromandel and walnut follow level with each other, and burr walnut makes up most of the walnut figure. Mahogany turns up at the plainer end. Beyond timber, the category also holds leather, crocodile and shagreen cases, lacquer, brass, enamel, porcelain and hardstone boxes.

When were most of these boxes made?

The dated field runs from 1800 to 1930, but only 80 of 249 listings give a clean year. The rest carry Victorian or the looser 19th Century. Where decades are stated they cluster on the middle of the century, the 1860s heaviest of all, then the 1880s and 1870s. Regency and Georgian sit at the early end, the 1910s and 1920s at the late end.

Is a dressing box the same as a vanity box?

In these listings, yes. Dealers use vanity, dressing, jewellery and travelling box for the same kind of fitted case, and dressing appears in a couple of dozen titles with travelling close behind. Dressing case is the older wording for the same object: a portable version of the dressing table, lockable, with pots and bottles inside.

What does fully fitted mean in a title?

It means the interior still holds its original arrangement of pots, bottles and trays, often with a drawer beneath for jewellery. Fitted appears in around a fifth of titles and fully in fewer, so it is a specific claim rather than a default description. Titles naming a bottle count or cut crystal sit high in the range.

Why are sewing and jewellery boxes listed here?

Dealers file the whole family of small fitted domestic boxes under one heading. Jewellery boxes, caskets and trinket boxes make up around a quarter of the category and are growing in live stock. Sewing, work and needlework boxes account for about one in twelve. Glove boxes, shallow and long, most often in burr walnut, appear in the same group.

How often do vanity boxes come up for sale?

Around 27 pieces come to market a year across the category on Sellingantiques, from a pool of ninety-five dealers who have listed one. That means almost every dealer in the category has handled one and very few have handled several. Odd things pass through once and are not seen again: a Kashmiri turban box, a burr yew combination sewing and paint box, a rose quartz and lapis box.

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Antique Vanity Boxes

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A lidded wooden case fitted with lift-out trays, glass pots and bottles and often a jewellery drawer beneath, made as a portable version of the dressing table.