Fragments of Beauty

 

QUESTION: Some time ago, I was browsing at a local flea market where I came upon a small decorated wooden box on one of the tables. The top had a serious of interlocking blocks that formed a sort of optical illusion. And on closer inspection, I realized little pieces of wood veneer covered the entire surface of the box. I’ve never seen anything like it since. Needless to say, I paid for the box immediately. Can you tell me what sort of decoration is on this box? How old might it be?

ANSWER: What you have is an example of Tunbridge ware, a form of decoratively inlaid woodwork, typically in the form of boxes, that originated in Tonbridge, England, and the spa town of Royal Tunbridge Wells in Kent in 1830. The decoration consisted of a mosaic of many tiny pieces of different colored wood assembled to form a design or scene.

Located about 40 miles southeast of London, the spa town of Tunbridge Wells sits in a wooded area. In the 17th century, there was so much timber that woodwork became the town’s main industry. For over 200 years, local makers specialized in this distinctive wooden ware. Originally, woodworkers decorated their creations with simple designs, painted on to light-colored objects. 

Around 1830, James Burrows invented a technique of creating mosaics from wooden pieces. He tightly glued together a bunch of wooden sticks of different colors, each having triangular or diamond-shaped cross section. For half-square mosaic, Burrows took thin slices from the composite block and applied them to the surface of an object, usually a box.

Makers of early Tunbridge ware didn’t decorate it but by the second half of the 18th century, more decoration appeared. Some were painted in colors on a whitewood background or painted in black to imitate Asian styles.  

At first the designs were simple and often geometrical, such as a clever arrangement of piled cubes, but as the artisans became more expert, they used an effective pattern representing wool-work. Pictures in mosaic of places of interest were another addition.

Making Tunbridge ware was tedious. Each separate fragment had to be laboriously fitted into its place until the picture was completed. Even then only one mosaic resulted from days of toil. To get over this difficulty, Burrows hit on the scheme of assembling a number of thin strips of appropriately colored woods into a block,. about 12 to 18 inches deep, so that their ends made up the desired scene or pattern. Bound, and glued under pressure, the strips were finally formed into one compact whole. A circular saw was next employed to shave off wafer-thin slices from across the block, and each of these layers now became a veneer which could easily be glued to the article it was to decorate. 

The makers of Tunbridge ware employed about 40 different kinds of wood in a variety of colors. They used only natural colors. They often took designs, such as the block over block motif, for their articles from Berlin wool work. 

Besides the Burrows family, the other company making Tunbridge ware in the 1830s was Fenner and Company. When William Fenner retired in 1840, Edmund Nye and his father took over the business, after 30 years in partnership with him. The company made articles such as workboxes and tea caddies with prints of popular views. Later items had pictures created from mosaics.

Edmund Nye, Robert Russell, and Henry Hollamby showed their Tunbridge ware at the Great Exhibition of 1851. Edmund Nye received a commendation from the judges for a a table depicting a mosaic of a ship at sea which used 110,800 wooden tesserae. 

The makers of Tunbridge ware operated cottage industries There were no more than nine in Tunbridge Wells and one in Tonbridge. The number declined in the 1880s since finding skilled craftsmen was difficult, plus public tastes changed. After the death of Thomas Barton in 1903, the only surviving firm was Boyce, Brown and Kemp, which closed in 1927.

Princess Victoria favored Tunbridge ware in the early 19th century. Local makers drew lots to present Princess Victoria with a single example piece of their artistry. A work table described as ‘veneered with party-colored woods from every part of the globe’ and ‘lined with gold tufted satin’ was given to the royal visitor.

Visitors flocked to the spa town of Tunbridge Wells and bought the items as souvenirs and gifts. Articles included cribbage boards, paperweights, writing slopes, snuff boxes and glove boxes. Well-healed travelers had a variety of  objects to choose from. Tables, tea caddies, rulers, workboxes, holders , fruit or bread baskets, candlesticks, chess tables, pencil boxes, stationery cabinets, and pin trays were but a few of the many items decorated using the wood mosaic technique.

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Slow and Steady Wins the Race

QUESTION: I like antique clocks and have a number of them in my home. I saw this English, tortoiseshell carriage clock sold by J.C. Vickery of London in 1904 at an antique show recently but was hesitant to buy it because tortoiseshell is now illegal. Can I still purchase this clock or will I be committing an illegal act? Also, what can you tell me about tortoiseshell decoration?

ANSWER: While it’s illegal to use tortoiseshell in manufacturing items, it is legal to buy and sell antiques in which tortoiseshell has been used as a decoration.

Tortoiseshell is an ornamental material obtained from the curved horny shields forming the shell of the hawksbill turtle. People have long valued tortoiseshell’s marbled, varicolored pattern and deep translucence for making jewelry, furniture, and other objects. The Romans first imported it from Egypt. During the 17th-century, the French raised the level of artistry for tortoiseshell in decorating jewel cases, trays, snuffboxes, and other items. The craft soon spread to other parts of Europe.

Eastern and Western artisans used tortoiseshell from ancient times until the buying and selling of raw tortoiseshell was banned in 1973 under CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Ancient Greeks used tortoiseshell to make their lyres and wealthy  Romans used inlaid veneers of tortoiseshell for furniture, especially couches for dining, and for small objects.




Craftsmen normally used it in thin slices or pieces to make a wide variety of objects such as combs, small boxes and frames and inlays in furniture. Despite its high price, manufacturers and consumers favored it because of its beautiful mottled appearance, its durability, and its organic warmth against the skin.

The French perfected the use of tortoiseshell on furniture by completely covering pieces with sheets of tortoiseshell and brass cut into intricate patterns that fit into one another, the tortoiseshell alternately forming the pattern and the ground, resulting in two types, boulle and counterboulle. André Charles Boulle, cabinetmaker to Louis XIV of France for whom this style of decoration is named, introduced and perfected marquetry combining thin inlays of tortoiseshell backed with metal or with woods and metal.




Another decorative technique, usually employed on tortoiseshell, was piqué work, in which artisans created inlaid designs using small gold or silver pins. The art reached its highest point in 17th- and 18th-century France, particularly for the decoration of smaller articles such as combs, match boxes, and snuffboxes.

To prepare tortoiseshell for decorative use, craftsmen would first separate it from the tortoise’s  bony skeleton by heat. They would then flatten the shields by softening them in warm salt water and flattening them using a press. finally rasping away any irregularities. Tortoiseshell can be easily worked using heat and pressure and can be shaped on a lathe. Two pieces could be fused by use of a hot iron, but like the earlier stages, craftsmen had to be careful not to lose the color. When a craftsman completed a piece, he would polish it using various techniques.

Victorians who wished to show off their wealth would prominently display tortoiseshell items in their homes. They enjoyed tortoiseshell boxes and containers as much for their decorative quality as for their storage possibilities. During the Victorian era, artisans embellished tortoiseshell jewelry with precious stones and gold and silver. They even hand carved some pieces.

Those who collect items made with tortoiseshell must be able to differentiate between the real thing and fake or faux tortoiseshell. But it takes an experienced eye to easily tell the difference. Generally, real tortoise shell is lighter than fake examples, and when compared, the former would have more depth and layers, which is part of the reason why it’s favored for use in jewelry making.

To help distinguish real tortoiseshell from faux tortoiseshell, collectors often use a pin test. However, the person selling a tortoiseshell item might not be too keen on having someone using a hot pin or a piece of sandpaper to see whether it will smell like burned hair since markings or spots may be left on the shell afterwards. Believe it or not, faux tortoiseshell smells more like burned hair than the real thing.

Collecting real antique tortoiseshell objects and jewelry can be expensive since these items are becoming increasingly rare.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Article section of my 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.