CHAPTER 9: PENWORK

Figure 9.1: Penwork caddy, c. 1820. Pine carcass; sycamore veneer; Chinese-inspired scenes on front, sides and rear; floral and scrolling decoration with central Indian-style reserve with elephant on lid; floral borders around lid; brass ring handles with pressed-brass sunburst backplates at ends; gilt pressed-brass lion’s paw feet; base covered with green baize; underside of lid with Chinese-inspired scene; interior with two compartments, with lids with abstract penwork and turned vegetable ivory knobs; central well, lined with blue velvet, with glass sugar bowl. Height 20.3 cm (8 in); width 29.8 cm (11 ¾ in); depth 17.9 cm (6 5/16 in). Woolley & Wallis Salisbury Salerooms Ltd 

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Figure 9.5: Penwork caddy, c. 1825. Solid sycamore carcass, coated with gesso; classical scrolling decoration incorporating female masks around sides (probably stencilled as indicated by slant of pattern on front, most likely due to misalignment of stencil); classical acanthus and palm leaf borders around base and edge and sides of lid; Chinese-inspired scene on lid; gilt pressed-brass lion’s paw feet; base covered with green baize; silvered hinges; underside of lid lined with dark pink ruched and tufted velvet; interior with two compartments, with lids with foliate decoration and turned bone knobs. Height 13 cm (5 1/8 in); width 20.6 cm (8 1/8 in); depth 9.8 cm (3 7/8 in). Private collection  

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Figure 9.6: Penwork chest, c. 1810. Pine carcass; sycamore veneer; profuse floral decoration on all visible exterior surfaces; classical scrolling decoration around sides of lid; narrow border of chevron pattern on all edges; silver navette-shaped loop handle (with partial marks); base covered with green baize; brass hinges; underside of lid with seated classical figures either side of urn; interior containing two canisters with hinged lids with floral decoration on all surfaces, and well lined with red velvet for glass sugar bowl. Height 15 cm (5 7/8 in); width 30.1 cm (12 in); depth 15.2 cm (6 in). Private collection

Figure 9.7: Penwork caddy, c. 1810. Solid sycamore carcass; sepia background throughout; naïve scene of shepherdess on lid; front, rear and sides with all-over design based on neoclassical motifs; base covered with baize; underside of lid with simple penwork border on sepia background; interior with two compartments, with decorated lids bearing turned bone knobs.  Height 11.8 cm (4 5/8 in); width 19.1 cm (7 ½ in); depth 11.2 cm (4 3/8 in). Private collection 

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Figure 9.8: Penwork caddy, c. 1820. Solid sycamore carcass; all-over floral and foliate decoration on paper glued to carcass; brass drop-loop handle; single silvered hinge; bas e covered with green baize; underside of lid lined with tinfoil; single interior compartment. Height 12.7 cm (5 in); width 15.2 cm (6 in); depth 10.4 cm (4 1/8 in). Private collection 

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Figure 9.11:  Penwork caddy, with trade label for Louisa Tyrrell of London, c. 1835. Pine carcass; sycamore veneer; floral and foliate decoration on all visible exterior surfaces; brass ring handles with pressed-brass backplates at ends; pressed-brass feet; base covered with pink paper; silvered hinges; classically inspired figures and floral motifs on underside of lid; interior with two compartments, with lids with floral decoration and turned bone knobs; label for Louisa Tyrrell’s ‘Emporium of Fancy’ in Soho, London, on base. Height 18 cm (7 ¼ in); width 20.8cm (8 1/16 in); depth 13.2 cm (5 ¼ in). Woolley & Wallis Salisbury Salerooms Ltd  

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Figure 9.12: Penwork chest, with trade label for Louisa Tyrrell of London, c. 1845. Pine carcass; sycamore veneer; exotic Asian scenes on front, rear, sides and lid; lid with border of leaf-based motifs around edge, and border of floral decoration around sides; ebonised bead and reel edging around top of lid and base; ebonised bun feet; base covered with pink paper; silvered hinges; Chinese-inspired scene on underside of lid; interior containing two canisters with hinged lids with Chinese-inspired decoration, and well lined with pink velvet, for glass sugar bowl; label for Louisa Tyrrell’s ‘Emporium of Fancy’, identical to that on Figure 9.12, on base. Height 19.7 cm (7 ¾ in); width 35.9 cm (14 in); depth 19.1 cm (7 1/2 in). Colefax & Fowler, London 

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Figure 9.13: Penwork caddy, c. 1810. Pine carcass; sycamore veneer; floral penwork decoration on all sides; lid with central oval, unusually painted with flowers in polychrome, surrounded by penwork border of scrolling motifs; border of abstract pattern around sides of lid; bone escutcheon; base covered with green baize; silvered hinges; underside of lid lined with pink paper; single interior compartment, with lid with floral motif and abstract border, and ivory knob carved in form of flower. Height 11.5 cm (4 ½ in); width 13 cm (5 1/8 in); depth 10.4 cm (4 1/8 in). (The late collection of Robert Harman Cannell) Private collection 

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Figure 9.14: Penwork caddy, c.1815. Pine carcass; sycamore veneer; floral decoration (reminiscent of patterns published by Ackermann, see Figure 9.27) on front, rear and sides, and also around sides of lid; Chinese-inspired scene on lid; borders of zig-zags and scrolling pattern around edge of lid and base; brass ring handles with pressed-brass backplates shaped as baskets of fruit and vines at ends; cast brass lion’s paw feet; bone escutcheon; base covered with green baize; underside of lid lined with red Morocco paper; interior with two compartments, with lids with floral decoration and turned bone knobs. Height 16.5 cm (6 ½ in); width 21 cm (8 ¼ in); depth 12.5 cm (4 7/8 in). (The late collection of Robert Harman Cannell) Private collection 

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Figure 9.17: Penwork chest, c.1820. Pine carcass; Sycamore veneer; decoration on front, rear and lid of classical scenes taken from illustrations (subjects identified in text) by John Flaxman for The Odyssey of Homer (1805 edition); double wreaths of husks on end panels; scrolling decoration incorporating anthemions and prancing deer (from family crest) on canted corners and around sides of lid; ornate brass ring handles with cast lion’s mask backplates at ends; cast brass lion’s paw feet; bone escutcheon; base covered with green baize; underside of lid with coat-of-arms of the Rogers family of Wisdome, Devon; two interior compartments containing two canisters with trellis pattern on sides, and hinged lids decorated with figures from The Odyssey; well with cut-glass sugar bowl. Height 17.8 cm (7 in); width 33 cm (13 in); depth 16 cm (6 ½ in). Witney Antiques, Witney 

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Figure 9.19: Penwork caddy, c. 1810. Solid sycamore carcass, coated with gesso; Chinese-inspired scenes on front, rear and lid; stylised flowers and foliage on corner and side panels, and around sides of lid; base covered with green baize; underside of lid lined with blue sugar paper; interior with single compartment, with lid with floral decoration and turned bone knob. Height 11.5 cm (4 ½ in); width 15.3 cm (6 in); depth 8.8 cm (3 7/8 in). Private collection 

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Figure 9.20: Penwork chest, c. 1820. Pine carcass; sycamore veneer; Chinese-inspired scenes on visible exterior surfaces; trellis border around lid, with initials ‘J.W.M.’ in centre; wide Greek key border below; brass ball-and-claw feet; silvered hinges; underside of lid with Chinese-style scene; interior containing two canisters with trellis pattern on sides, and hinged lids decorated with Chinese-style scenes; well with glass sugar bowl. Height 20.3 cm (8 in); width 30.5 cm (12 in); depth 15.2 cm (6 in). Witney Antiques, Witney 

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Figure 9.21: Penwork caddy, dated 1825. Pine carcass; sycamore veneer; exotic Asian scenes on front and lid; unusual serrated foliate decoration on rear and sides; floral border around lid; brass ball feet; underside of lid with similar foliate decoration; interior with two compartments, with lids with foliate decoration and bone knobs; central reserve on rear inscribed ‘M.T., Snaith, 1825, Thompson’. Height 11.5 cm (4 ½ in); width 17.8 cm (7 in); depth 11.5 cm (4 ½ in). Fine Antique Boxes, London (Tony and the late June Stone) 

Figure 9.22: Penwork chest, dated 1826. Pine carcass; sycamore veneer; bold floral decoration on front, rear and sides; exotic scenes on panels of lid, including right, ‘A Garden in China’ (reputedly depicting the penwork’s creator, Sarah Jackson, with her family), and left, inscription ‘Monarch we envy not your state we look upon the great and bless our humble lot’; brass ring handles with pressed-brass backplates at ends; pressed-brass feet; underside of lid with polychrome painted floral decoration; interior with two compartments for canisters (now missing); inscribed on rear ‘Sarah Jackson August 22nd 1826, South Thoresby, Lincolnshire’. Height 15.4 cm (6 in); width 28.8 cm (9 7/8 in); depth 14 cm (5 ½ in). Christopher Clarke, Stow-on-the-Wold