Giving New Life Through Restoration

QUESTION: For years I also collected antiquities. Now I have a particular passion of writing boxes or old English boxes. I enjoy to restore by myself. I beg to ask for an opinion. I attach here two photos. On the lid, at the corners, something is missing! Do you think the angles were made of brass? Or in wood ... or mother of pearl? I doubt it because the thickness is a lot (about 3 mm.) Then I had never seen the brass corners that did not go vertically.

ANSWER: The corners on your box would have been brass, so if you can find someone to make these for you, they should be easy to replace. Be sure to glue them with a strong glue. Box makers usually used brass on the corners of better boxes to protect them while traveling. Victorians took writing and other types of boxes along on long trips so that they could communicate to their friends and family back home. It’s not unusual to find boxes from this time period in poor condition. Restoring them is not as difficult as doing furniture but can be challenging.

Antique boxes acted as portable storage workhorses for past generations. They served a variety of purposes from document boxes in which to keep valuable papers to writing boxes for correspondence to dressing boxes for grooming while traveling to tea caddies for storing precious tea. Victorians, in particular, loved boxes and people from all classes used them.

Unfortunately, people handled boxes a lot, so most antique ones aren’t in the greatest shape. Some boxes may have sat on a table in front of a window in the sunlight and became faded over time while others suffered from neglect.

A good example is an Indian sadeli mosaic-covered writing box that outlived its usefulness. Someone decided that instead of tossing it out, they would give it to their children to play with. The children drew all over the beautiful mosaic with crayons and someone did a bad job of pasting a piece of chartreuse felt over the writing surface on the inside. Needless to say, this restoration wasn’t a walk in the park.

Unlike antique furniture made before 1830, many antique boxes will benefit greatly with even modest restoration. And since they’re not large, it doesn’t take a lot of materials or time to restore them.

Antique boxes are valuable because they’re antique and looking old isn’t bad. And while restoring a box may make it look better, it may reduce its historical value. Boxes from the 18th century should only be restored by a professional restoration expert. In most cases, they need to be conserved, that is the deterioration of the box should be halted. Restoration is a more radical solution and often includes refinishing the wood and replacing metal parts. So the question to be asked is whether the box is in bad enough shape to render it less valuable than its being restored?












While restoration usually begins with reviving the wood of the box’s body, it also takes in exterior decorations made of ivory, tortoiseshell, and mother-of-pearl. These materials are all fragile and should be checked for cracks, abrasions, and chips. Metal ornamentation may be missing, dented or creased, or it may just need polishing. Veneers and inlay are much more difficult to repair and may require professional assistance.

Antique boxes also contain small and sometimes specialized hinges and locks that must also be examined for repair, restoration, or replacement. Finding replacements can be a real challenge since many of these may have been made for a particular box.

But minor conservation can do wonders for an antique box. First, tighten any loose screws and gently tap in any loose nails. Repair loose joints with wood glue. Finally, clean the box with a soft lint-free cloth dampened with Murphy’s Oil Soap solution. Do a small area at a time and use another lint-free cloth to dry it. After letting the box dry thoroughly for 24 hours, give it two coats of Minwax past wax to protect the exterior. Follow the directions on the can.




Dust the interior of the box with a soft shaving brush. If the wood is bare, as with some inner areas of the box, switch to a solvent-based cleaner. Use a toothbrush or toothpick to clean out any crevices. If this has markedly improved the box’s appearance then it may be a good time to stop.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the other 18,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about the Victorians in the Winter 2018 Edition, "All Things Victorian," online now. 

A Box for Gentlemen

QUESTION: I recently attended an upscale antiques show in my area. While there, I came across a beautiful wooden box filled with little jars with silver lids and other containers. The dealer called it a “Gentleman’s Box.” I had never heard the term before. In fact, the box looked like a deluxe traveling toiletry box. Can you tell me where the term Gentleman’s Box originated? Is it the same as an early men’s toiletry box?

ANSWER: Some antiques dealers lump all sorts of men’s traveling boxes into one category—the Gentleman’s Box. However, like the word “vintage” that’s so often misused on eBay and in many middle-market antique shops, it doesn’t apply to every box used by gentlemen in the 18th and 19th century.

A true Gentleman’s Box refers to a wealthy man’s dressing case, which carried toiletries and other small personal items a gentleman might need when traveling. Sometimes, the term can also be applied to fancy wooden boxes containing small bottles of liquor or wine. 

Towards the end of the 18th century, upper class gentlemen carried dressing cases with them when they traveled. These cases were originally utilitarian but they’re fine design and craftsmanship showed off their owners’ wealth and place in society, as at that time, only the very wealthy could afford to travel.

Gentleman’s dressing cases contained bottles and jars for colognes, aftershaves, and creams as well as essential shaving and manicure tools. As these boxes became more popular, makers came up with other items to include in them. By the early Victorian era, when ladies began to travel, the exteriors, veneered with exotic woods, such as  calamander, rosewood, burl walnut, satinwood and mahogany, and often was inlaid with contrasting wood or mother-of-pearl, or abalone. 
           
The Gentleman’s Box had an expensive fitted interior, often set in tiers with pull-out drawers and many compartments. The top, removable tier often contained cut-glass toilet jars and bottles with engraved silver mounts and covers. There were also separate holders and layers to hold the toilet accessories, such as scissors, steel nail-files, buttonhooks and penknives.

The inside of the cover sometimes had a framed mirror, and the base had a secret drawer released by a spring catch or button on the top of the box inside. Few people  could have been deceived by this,  however, since it was really meant to prevent the drawer from opening while the box, itself, was closed. An alternative to the brass button or catch was the use of a chained brass pin which slid into a retaining hole for the secret drawer.

Most of these boxes were around 12 inches wide and 10 inches deep. The height varied, as some had multiple drawers that made them look like miniature chests. The more luxurious ones incorporated a writing box and a sometimes a compartment to hold basic tea-making equipment.

Weight and size were unimportant, for not only did gentlemen travel with their servants on coaches and trains, but there were plenty of porters waiting to help at railway stations.

A mother-of-pearl or brass plaque in the center of the lid was usually engraved with the initials of the owner. Wealthy gentlemen often purchased these boxes as status symbols of their wealth rather than as actual traveling pieces.

Gentlemen’s Boxes are usually pricey, selling for upper four figures. Most have been kept in very good condition or have been professionally restored.