18TH CENTURY

Details

AN INDIAN ENGRAVED-IVORY AND TORTOISESHELL BOX
18TH CENTURY
Of rectangular shape, veneered on all four sides, the hinged top enclosing a red velvet-lined interior with mirror, both doors decorated with ivory foliage enclosing thirteen variously-sized rosewood-lined drawers and two hidden compartments, edged with green stained ivory, the sides with apparently original brass carrying-handles, the drawers and carcase notched and numbered; on a modern stained beech and calamander stand
19 in. (48 cm.) high; 22 in. (56 cm.) wide; 16 in. (41 cm.) deep

Special notice

Buyers from within the EU: VAT payable at 17.5% on just the buyer's premium (NOT the hammer price) Buyers from outside the EU: VAT payable at 17.5% on hammer price and buyer's premium. If a buyer, having registered under a non-EU address, decides that an item is not to be exported from the EU, then he/she should advise Christie's to this effect immediately.

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Lot Essay

Dr. Amin Jaffer notes that the form of this box, opening as it does with two doors rather than a fall-front, was introduced as a result of Western influence at the end of the seventeenth century (see A.Jaffer, Luxury Goods from India: the Art of the Indian Cabinet-Maker, London, 2002, p.65). The altered construction reflected changes in Europe in the design and use of cabinets which were increasingly intended as showpieces; the configuration here allows the interior door panels and the variously-sized drawers to be admired simultaneously.

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