Christopher Clarke (Antiques) Limited

Governor Rennie’s Dressing Box (1825 England)

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Rosewood

Dated 1825.

We are very happy to email full condition reports upon request.

The superb quality of this brass edged, rosewood box is befitting of both a Governor and the maker Bayley, Blew and Chapman. The box is lined in green leather with a green velvet pad to the interior of the lid to cushion the bottles etc. in the lift out tray. The tray has two cologne bottles, two jars, a large jar, a portable shaving brush and a corresponding tubular container with an ivory brush. The contents of the tray are all silver and the maker’s mark is probably that of Thomas Wells of Clerkenwell, who first registered in 1778. All pieces are hallmarked for 1824 except the brush case, which is for 1825 and the tops of the cologne bottles, which have no marks probably due to their size. The silver is engraved with the initials GR and a heraldic device of a bent, arm holding a sword. Underneath the tray is a well running the width of the box with dividers to the back holding two razors by Joseph Rodgers & Sons of Sheffield, a strop, a lidded compartment with removable tin liner and two steel boot pulls. Enclosed in the lid is a mahogany mirror, an area for papers and to the back of the pad, fittings to take tools of which a peg and worm corkscrew remains. The brush is stamped Bayley, Cockspur St. and reveals the box maker. The company often stamped their abbreviated name to their wares. They started as Bayley, Son & Blew in the late 18th century before becoming Bayley, Blew and Chapman. They seem to have always been located at 17 Cockspur Street, Charing Cross, London and are listed in the trade directories under Perfume Wholesale as opposed to under Dressing Case Makers or Portable Desk Makers. However, their boxes can be regarded as amongst the best and they received the patronage of the King and Duke of York. The ornate handle is engraved ’George Rennie Esq. Whitehall Place’. The box’s Scottish owner was a sculptor and politician, born in 1801 and died in 1860. His best known work is The Archer, which was exhibited at the RA in 1828 and presented to the Athenaeum Club. Other works are at Chatsworth. He entered politics as MP for Ipswich in 1841 and was Governor of the Falkland Islands from 1848 to 1855. He greatly increased the prosperity of the colony and formed the island’s volunteer force in response to the possibility of Russian aggression during the Crimean War. An exceptional box.

gbp 3250.00 (Pound Sterling)