Strong box
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1680 (the stand circa 1750) - 1770
Materials
Princes wood, rosewood, kingwood, walnut drawer linings and brass fittings. Mahogany & gold paint.
Measurements
54 cm (H); 72 cm (W); 44 cm (D)
Place of origin
Netherlands
Order this imageCollection
Powis Castle and Garden, Powys
NT 1180827
Summary
A brass mounted princes wood strong box, Anglo-Dutch, circa 1680. Raised on a mahogany stand, later gilded, English, circa 1750. The hinged lid and fall front enclosing a fitted interior of drawers below a well and with a writing surface to the fall. The interior veneered in rosewood and with brass fittings. The whole with applied brass scroll work mounts and hinges and twin brass locks. The stand fitted with a pair of lopers to hold the fall front when open and raised on square section legs, later oil gilding.
Full description
Strong boxes ensured the safe deposit of valuables such as papers, money and jewellery when travelling, and in this form were produced in the last quarter of the 17th century. Similar strong boxes veneered with kingwood or princes wood were supplied for the Duke of Lauderdale at Ham House, Surrey and appear in the inventories of 1677 and 1683. The 1683 inventory of the Duchess's Bedchamber lists 'Two Strong boxes & one box with an extraordinary Lock; Three frames to the boxes'. Adam Bowett comments in 'Woods in British Furniture Making 1400-1900' that although historically this form of strong box has thought to be Continental there is strong evidence that they were also made in England. The cabinet maker Edward Traherne had strong boxes and fittings for strong boxes in his warehouse when he died in 1674. Interestingly a similar example sold Christies New York in 2004 which once formed part of the collection of Elihu Yale (1648-1720), one-time Governor of Madras and a Governor of the East India Company. (James Weedon February 2019)
Provenance
Part of the indigenous collection of Powis Castle accepted in part satisfaction of the Estate duty after the death of the Right Honourable George Charles, 4th Earl of Powis, on 9th November 1952. The contract of the 'Offer of Property in Satisfaction of Estate Duty under the National Land Fund Scheme' was completed on 21st March 1963. The collection conveyed to National Trust ownership in 1992.
References
Bowett, Adam 'Woods in British Furniture Making 1400-1900' London 2012, pp.192-195