What kind of box is most common?

The writing slope in walnut. "Writing" appears in 380 titles and "writing slope" in 273, and walnut is named in 404, which makes the brass bound walnut slope the face of the category. Jewellery boxes come second at 242 titles, then tea caddies at around 120, then stationery boxes and cabinets.

Which timbers turn up in these boxes?

Walnut is the house timber, in 404 titles, with 150 of those specifying burr walnut and 46 figured walnut. Rosewood follows at 187, then mahogany at 129, oak at 124 and coromandel at 108. Papier-mâché accounts for a smaller group of about 37 titles, usually black and painted, often with mother of pearl set in.

Does Victorian in the title mean a firm date?

Usually it means a period bracket. Only 579 of 1,768 listings carry a clean year, while 844 give the word Victorian alone and a further 240 say only "19th Century". Where decades are stated they cluster in the 1850s to 1890s. The dated field as a whole runs from 1750 to 1940, so a handful of earlier and later boxes sit inside the group.

Are secret drawers usual in a writing slope?

They come up often enough to be a stated feature rather than a curiosity. Forty-two titles advertise secret drawers, and "secret" appears in 49. In slopes the concealed compartment is normally released from the pen tray. Some slopes also name a patent lock as part of the description.

What are the smallest boxes in this category?

Snuff boxes, stamp boxes, pill boxes, vesta cases and needle holders. Tunbridge ware stamp boxes come in single, double and triple-section forms and sit at the bottom of the range. This is also the most varied branch by material: horn, tortoiseshell, treen, coquilla nut, tartanware, silver and mother of pearl all appear.

Do musical boxes belong in this group?

Yes, as a distinct cluster of roughly 34 to 42 titles. They are described by the number of airs played, six, eight and twenty being the counts that recur, and by whether the bells are "in view" rather than hidden under the bed plate.

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Victorian Boxes

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Wooden and metal lidded boxes made for nineteenth-century desks, dressing tables and parlours: writing, tea, sewing, jewellery, snuff and a long tail of single-purpose containers.