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Case

1700-1740 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Boxes of this sort might have been used for a variety of uses. Perhaps the most likely were that they were used to protect scientfic instruments or clock, but they may also have been used to protect fine bookbinding. This case is covered with a thin layer of very fine hide, probably calf skin, dyed green. The decoration was applied after the case was assembled by damping down the hide and impressing it with a variety of heated tools. Gouges, rollers and stamps were used to create a recessed pattern which, once the hide was dry, would last indefinitely. The pattern was then filled with gold leaf and polished.

Both the lid and the body of the case are tooled with the initial IG and two crescents or horseshoes. These must be the initials and emblems of the original owner of the box, who was presumably wealthy and interested in books. Despite these clues we have so far been unable to discover who he or she was.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Case
  • Lid
Materials and techniques
Leather-covered beechwood, the leather with gold tooling
Brief description
Case of green leather with gold tooling, of upright, rectangular form, with a pull-off lid, French, 1700-40, stamped with the initials CG surmounted by two interlaced crescents. It is uncertain what the case contained but the probability is that it was a scientific instrument.
Physical description
Case of green leather covered beechwood, with gold tooling, of upright, rectangular form, with a pull-off lid, French, 1700-40, stamped with the initials CG surmounted by two interlaced crescents.
Dimensions
  • Height: 27.5cm
  • Width: 13cm
  • Depth: 6cm
Marks and inscriptions
I G (Stamped initials, probably those of the original owner, under two, interlinked, crescents)
Summary
Boxes of this sort might have been used for a variety of uses. Perhaps the most likely were that they were used to protect scientfic instruments or clock, but they may also have been used to protect fine bookbinding. This case is covered with a thin layer of very fine hide, probably calf skin, dyed green. The decoration was applied after the case was assembled by damping down the hide and impressing it with a variety of heated tools. Gouges, rollers and stamps were used to create a recessed pattern which, once the hide was dry, would last indefinitely. The pattern was then filled with gold leaf and polished.

Both the lid and the body of the case are tooled with the initial IG and two crescents or horseshoes. These must be the initials and emblems of the original owner of the box, who was presumably wealthy and interested in books. Despite these clues we have so far been unable to discover who he or she was.
Collection
Accession number
W.27:1, 2-1914

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Record createdJuly 10, 2006
Record URL
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