Rectangular box or casket of bois de Sainte Lucie (a type of cherry), with shallow carving in panels overall, imitating silver boxes made as part of toilet sets.

Rectangular lidded box or casket of bois de Sainte Lucie (a type of cherry), with shallow carving against punched grounds in panels overall, imitating silver boxes made as part of toilet sets.
The box has a wide, rounded base moulding, the top edge carved with half-flower-heads. The sides of the box are carved with recessed panels with rounded ends, the panels with low relief carving of scrolling foliate ornament against a punched ground. The lid shows a narrow lower edge, the same size as the body of the box, with shallow carving of bands of husks. Above this the lid extends beyond the box like a roof, rising at an angle to the flat top that is edged with the same moulding as the base of the box. The concave, sloping section of the lid is carved with scrolling foliage and small flowers similar to forget-me-nots, in recessed panels, the corners of the box carved with upright leaves giving the appearance of metal mounts. The top surface of the lid, within a raised plain fillet, is shallowly carved within five sections separated by fillets. The corner ones are carved in the same manner as the concave edge of the lid, the central one with an extravagantly shaped outline, carved with palms flanking a monogram below a coronet with 10 balls (possibly imitating the coronet of a comte, although that commonly shows 9 balls). The monogram has not yet been deciphered and may, in any case, be invented. The box has a small brass lock. Its two brass hinges may be replacements. The box is mitred at the corners, and consructed with a thin, inner lining, glued in place. The top of this rises higher than the body of the box and forms a lip to locate the lid. The lid is constructed as a frame , to which the top is glued, and pinned from beneath.

This was one of the earliest purchases for the Museum, costing £1.10s (£1.50).
The botanical name of bois de Sainte Lucie is prunus mahaleb. This tree is native to the Mediterranean region, Iran and Central Asia, where it was cultivated for a spice derived from the seeds inside the cherry stones. It has been naturalized in North-Western Europe for centuries. It is very fine-grained and thus takes such fine carving as this with ease.

After a succession of expensive foreign wars, the King of France, Louis XIV, found that his treasury was seriously depleted. In order to build up substantial reserves of gold and silver a series of laws were passed making it illegal to manufacture small luxury items such as frames, candlesticks and toilet boxes from precious metals. In response to this the craftsmen of Nancy in Eastern France carved boxes and other small objects from a very fine grained cherry wood known as bois de Sainte-Lucie. Both the forms and the decoration of these objects derived from contemporary silverware.

This box would have lived upon a dressing table, and would have been used to store gloves or toilet items. The monogram in the centre of the lid is difficult to read but appears to include the letters T and L. It is surmounted by a baron's coronet.

38-1852