This is a wooden travelling case, lined with marbled paper, for an embroidered casket (Museum no. T.114:1-1999). The travelling case would have protected the delicate embroidery of the casket, and its contents, from the wear and tear of travel. It has also helped to preserve the beautiful colours of the casket from the damage of time and light. It comes originally from the Smart family of Norcott Hall, Hertfordshire, and family history associates it with a visit to the house by Charles II.

The panels of the casket would have been worked by a young girl, probably about age 11 or 12, as the culmination of her needlework education, which would have begun with samplers, and the decoration of small objects like pin cushions. She would embroider a series of small panels drawn or printed with pictorial scenes, which would then be sent to a cabinet maker to be made up into a casket, the edges bound with braid. The caskets were fitted with a variety of drawers and compartments, suitable for keeping jewellery, writing equipment and letters, needlework tools, tiny toys or keepsakes.