Nineteenth Century Coromandel Vanity Case Dressing Box made by H Mitchell of 168 Oxford Street London

H Mitchell of 186 Oxford Street, London, a vanity box or dressing box made of coromandel wood with brass stringing and Brahma locks. This box is of exceptional quality being made of a very expensive, rare and now virtually extinct timber for the show wood and with good dense mahogany used for the construction. The dovetails on the drawer are wonderful miniature versions which are so precise that one wonders how they were made at all. This box has been in the Hicks-Beach family from new and all the sterling silver bottle tops and the top of the lid are engraved with the initials of the owner. The silver is by Frances Douglas and hallmarked 1863. Provenance: Sir Micheal Hicks-Beach, Baronet of Beverston, Viscount St Aldwyn and Earl St Aldwyn, the Hicks-Beach family of Williamstrip, Coln St Aldwyn, family seat from 1788 to 2008 and thereafter Mill House, Coln St Aldwyn. TF087