Writing desk constructed of oak and walnut, decorated with painted and gilded leather. British, 1c525. The decoration painted by an unidentified painter.

Box constructed of oak and walnut, decorated with painted and gilded leather (probably sheep or goat). The box has a sloping top and a double lid, the outer enclosing a shallow tray contained in the inner lid, which opens to disclose three divisions, two with lids. The fall-down front encloses three drawers, the centre one divided into partitions and those on the side fitted with sliding lids. There is a small drawer with compartments fitted at the right side. The interior is covered with leather painted and gilt. The inside of the outer lid is decorated with interlaced strapwork, enclosing the badges of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon (see below for further detail). The inner lid bears the arms of Henry VIII encircled by the Garter, and with putti blowing trumpets as supporters. On either side are figures of Mars in armour, and Venus with Cupid, each under Renaissance canopies. The lids in the interior are painted with a medallion head of Christ and Saint George and the Dragon below a canopy. The front, above the three small drawers, is decorated with a male and a female profile head and scrollwork designs; the falling flap bears profile heads of Paris and Helen, inscribed 'Paris de Troy' and 'Helen de Greci' on a ground of arabesques.
The rim below the outer lid is covered in parchment and bears the inscription in classical lettering (much rubbed): 'DEUS REGNORUM EC[CLESIAE] CHRISTIAN[A]E MAXIMUS PROTECTOR IMPERII DA SERVO TUO HENRICO OCT[AVO] REGI ANGLIAE DE HOSTE TRIUMPHUM M[AGNUM].

The exterior of the desk is covered with shagreen and fitted with metal-gilt angle-mounts, loop handles and ball feet, all added during the 18th century.
The interior surfaces of the compartments are lined with red silk velvet, probably added during the 19th century. The writing surface and the large compartment have been relined very crudely with a crimson silk velvet, the appearance of which is considerably older than that of the red velvet.

Detailed description of the underside of the outer lid (undated, from curatorial file):
The outer lid is lined with gilt and painted leather decorated with badges and personal devices of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. The background of the leather panel is of a tan colour with an overall pattern of interlacing four-lobed knots forming four rows each containing five circular divisions, in which are painted the badges. The arabesque pattern does not quite fit the size of the lid, and gives the impression of being a section cut from a larger piece of leather decorated with al all-over pattern. The badges are as follows:

Top row, left to right:
1) On a blue ground, a lozenge in gilt with a red ground within it on which seems to be painted a pomegranate dimidiating a rose, (this area is badly rubbed). A badge of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon.
2) Gilt concentric circles with a palmette design outlined in black, enclosing a gold fleur-de-lis on a green ground. A badge of Edward III and Henry VII also adopted by Henry VIII.
3) On a blue ground, a gilt 8-pointed star formed of a square on a square and enclosing a gold rose on a red ground. A badge of the Tudor house.
4) As 2
5) As 1

Second row, left to right:
6) Gilt concentric circles with a palmette design as at 2 above, enclosing device consisting of the initials H and K joined by a lover’s knot.
7) On a blue ground, a lozenge in gilt as at 1 above, enclosing a sheaf of arrows on a red ground. A personal device of Catherine of Aragon.
8) A gilt circle decorated with a pattern of ‘spokes’, enclosing a gold portcullis on a green ground. A badge of the Tudor house.
9) Gilt concentric circles as at 1 above, enclosing an heraldic castle between the initials H and K.
10) As at 2 above, but with a design of decorative circles replacing the palmette pattern.

Third row, left to right
11) As at 1 above
12) As at 9 above
13) An 8-pointed star on a blue ground as at 3 above, enclosing the device of a rose in a sunburst. A badge of the Tudor house.
14) As at 2 above.
15) As at 7 above.

Fourth row, left to right, (all rubbed)
16) Indecipherable.
17) As at 9 above.
18) As at 8 above.
19) As at 1 above.
20) A gilt circle decorated with ‘spokes’ as at 8, enclosing the badge of initials and lover’s knot described at 6 above.

Materials:
A report on the materials used for the box was made by J.A. Darrah, 17/8/1976 (copy on dept. file):
Oak: base, sides, drop front, probably the back and the lid, long side drawer (with walnut bottom)
Walnut: interior fittings and three small drawers
Shagreen dyed black (probably ray) - applied to the external surfaces
Gilt-brass - fittings
Interior surface of the lid, the lower surface of the writing surface, the lids of the drawers and compartments and the drawer fronts are covered with undyed, buff coloured leather. The basic design of the decoration was applied to this in gold leaf outlined and detailed with black pigment. Large background areas were then coloured blue, figures painted in flesh tints with brown hair and highlights applied to the gold leaf with red and green glazes. The pigments used are azurite (blue), vermillion (red), calcium carbonate [chalk] (white), carbon black, iron oxide(?) (brown), chalk and vermillion (pink), copper resinate (green glaze), dragon's blood(?) for red glaze.
The internal surfaces of the compartments are lined with scarlet cotton velvet, not available until the 18th century, and laid onto a woodpulp cardboard (not used until the 19th century). The writing surface and the large compartment have been relined crudely with a crimson silk velvet, apparently pre-18th century.
In around 1999, as part of conservatin treatment, a non-original shellac surface coating was removed from the painted and gilded leather. Some areas of non-original bronze paint that had been applied over original gilding could not be safely removed without damage to the gilding underneath.

Purchased with the aid of the Murray Bequest

Purchased out of the funds of the Murray Bequest for £462 from Messrs Durlacher Bros., 142 Bond Street, London W1. RP: 32/6133
Lent to the British Library exhibition Henry VIII: Man and Monarch, April- Sept 2009
Lent to the exhibition Six Lives: The Women who Married Henry VIII at the National Portrait Gallery, London: 20 June - 8 September 2024


Provenance
The provenance of the box is not known previous to its sale at Christies (7/7/1932 lot 111) by order of the Trustees of the late A.C.W. Dunn Gardner of Denston Hall, Suffolk. The coat of arms of Henry VIII (reigned 1509-47) together with the heraldic badges of his first queen, Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536), suggest that it was made by the court workshops of Henry VIII before 1527, when he began proceedings for divorce from Catherine. The inclusion of painted heads imitating miniatures suggests that the box dates from after 1520 when miniature painting became popular. Similar boxes appear in the inventory taken at Henry VIII's death in 1547 but were not described in sufficent detail to make identification possible. Possibly the box was made as a royal gift, or could have been owned by Catherine of Aragon herself, and might have passed out of the Royal collection soon after it was made.

Interventions
The present outer covering of of shagreen, with metal mounts, dates from the eighteenth century and indicates the historic veneration with which the desk was treated even at that time. The original exterior covering of the desk is not known but might have been velvet or leather with an outer leather travelling case. The scarlet velvet lining the interior surfaces of the compartments was probably added in the 19th century. The surface of the tray in the outer lid and the surfaces of the large compartment have been crudely relined with crimson silk velvet.

Historical significance
Tudor taste demanded luxurious furnishings, such as can be seen in the interior settings of portraits of Henry VIII and his family. Room interiors were furnished with carved, painted and gilded on ceilings or walls, or hung with tapestry or embroideries. Floors were often painted. Gold leaf was used lavishly on carving, and gold thread in embroidery. Tudor royal furnishings have largely disappeared and this is one of the few court objects to survive. The decoration of the box relates to such schemes of decoration. The inner surfaces of the desk are are lined with leather, lavishly decorated with gilding and painting. The painting is not of the high quality of illuminated manuscripts or miniature painting, but is probably closer in quality to furniture or wall decoration.

The box can be seen as a compendium of fashionable ornament of the 1520s. Features include Tudor heraldic devicese framed by early Renaissance ornament, late gothic features suh as the quatrefoils on the drawer-fronts, figures derived from North European print sources, and imitations of miniature painting. Heraldic imagery, which provided a ready repertoire of colourful motifs for Tudor craftsmen and carried powerful messages of ownership and allegiance, was used extensively at the court of Henry VIII for furnishings, liveries and as architectural decoration. It is this which gives us the clue to the origins of the box. The underside of the outer lid carries many devices including the initials 'HR' and H&K', and the lides of the small drawers include dragons and greyhounds, Tudor badges and often used as supporters for the coat of arms. The Renaissance ornament, in the form of grotesques, is in some parts misunderstood, such as the inverted candelabrum base, with paw feet, between the roundels of Paris and Helen. The underside of the inner lid shows Henry's coat of arms, unusally supported by two putti similar to those on a carved coat of arms at Hampton Court. On either side are figures of Mars in armour and Venus with Cupid, after woodcuts by the celebrated German artist Hans Burgkmair, published around 1510.

Authorship and Dating
The maker of the box is unknown but it is presumed to have been made in an English royal workshop (less capable of the most sophisticated work) rather than imported. The possibility that the painted figurative decoration might be associated with the King's painter, Lucas Hornebolte of Ghent who first appeared in the royal accounts in September 1525, or his workshop was raised by Roy Strong and V.J. Murrell in 1983 and asserted more confidently by Catherine S. Hay in 1996, but is not supported by comparison with documented work by the painter. The underside of the upper lid, with interlace and badges, is inferior in quality. In terms of dating the box cannot predate the publication of the Burkmair woodcuts in 1510 (Henry and Catherine were married in 1509) or postdate the commencing of divorce proceedings in 1527. Stylistically it seems likely to date after c1520, coincident with the growing English taste for portrait miniatures as reflected in the roundel heads.

This is a rare survival of luxury furniture made by the royal workshops. Such small writing-boxes were used on tables, to hold the paraphernalia associated with writing such as ink and quills, and other small items. It does not appear to have been designed for writing on, but has the characteristic sloping lid of a desk. It was not until the seventeenth century that the desk developed as a specialist form of table with drawers. The inventory taken at Henry's death in 1547 lists similar boxes or desks with their contents. For example in a closet next to the King;s Privy Chamber at Greenwich Palace were three desks covered with leather, one of which was 'furnysshed with boxes without Counters with a penne knyfe and a payer of sisorres'.

Object Type
This box was almost certainly made in the court workshops of Henry VIII, who reigned from 1509 to 1547. It is lined with leather, which is painted with the heraldic badges of Henry and his first queen, Katherine of Aragon (1485-1536), and the royal coat of arms.

The exterior of the desk is covered with shagreen (possibly sharkskin) and fitted with metal-gilt angle-mounts, loop handles and ball feet, all added during the 18th century. The interior surfaces of the compartments are lined with red silk velvet, probably added during the 19th century. The writing surface and the large compartment have been relined very crudely with a crimson silk velvet, the appearance of which is considerably older than that of the red velvet.

Time
The box was probably made between 1520 and 1527. The decoration includes painted heads in the style of miniature painting, which became popular after 1520. Henry began divorce proceedings against Katherine in 1527.

Subjects Depicted
The decoration includes both late Gothic features and early Renaissance ornament. On either side of Henry's coat of arms are figures of Mars, the Roman god of war, in armour and Venus, the goddess of love and fertility, with her son Cupid. The compartment lids are painted with the head of Christ and figures of St George and the Dragon. The front has a male and a female head in profile. The falling flap bears profile heads of figures from Greek legend: Paris, prince of Troy, and Helen, the Spartan queen whom he abducted.

Ownership & Use
The history of the box is uncertain. Similar boxes were listed in inventories taken at Henry's death in 1547, but this box could have been a royal gift and might have passed out of royal ownership soon after it was made.

W.29:1 to 10-1932