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Baggott Church Street Ltd
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Tunbridge Ware Pen & Inkstand
( England
c. 1865 to c. 1890
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Description / Expertise
Central lidded cut glass ink bottle flanked by a pair of inlaid lidded boxes
and an open pen tray inlaid all around with tessellated floral inlay
within banded and strung borders. Stands upon low bun feet.
Bears maker’s label. T.Barton, Late Nye Mount Ephraim Tunbridge Wells.
English, circa 1865-1890
Base Height 2” (5cm) Width 10” (26cm) Depth 6” (15cm)
Stock No. 7957F-3
Price £950.00
Tunbridge Ware -Boxes made in the area of
Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge in Kent
Although synonymous with wood mosaic Tunbridge ware boxes were made long before this technique and style of decoration was arrived at in the 1830s. The woodworkers in the area of Tunbridge Wells were making wooden artifacts even earlier than the seventeenth century when the town became a fashionable Spa resort. Many early items were turned, but cabinet making was certainly developed to a very high level by the second half of the 18th century when box making flourished.
Late eighteenth century boxes are not always easy to identify as Tunbridge Ware, although the predominant use of yew with fruitwood and holly inlays of high quality can be a pointer.
Another early type of Tunbridge Ware box was made in sycamore and painted in primary colours in a naive style depicting scenes with cottages, or flowers. These boxes were mostly small, sometimes circular or in the shape of baskets. This kind of work continued into the early part of the 19th century, mostly for sewing tools enclosed in more ambitious workboxes.
By the end of the 18th century a more refined type of painted work emerged. Larger and often shaped boxes were produced mostly in the early part of the 19th century, decorated with penwork, painting, hand coloured engravings or a combination of techniques. Again it is not easy to be certain that these boxes were definitely made or decorated in Tunbridge as the inspirations for the pictures were often drawn from pattern books available throughout the country. However even if they were not decorated by the Tunbridge makers many of these boxes were supplied ‘in the white’ by them, for ladies to decorate at home.
Tunbridge Ware developed its own characteristic local style by the end of the 18th century with the development of geometric inlays. The parquetry and long triangular ‘vandyke’ patterns, which decorate the Tunbridge Ware boxes of this period, are of such distinctive quality that they cannot be mistaken for anything else.
The range of wood used to decorate these boxes is unparalleled. It includes: naturally green fungus-attacked oak, holly, burrs, patterns made in the wood by fungus infection or peculiar growth, snakewoods (bamboo or palm treated with black polish to create snakeskin effect) as well as fruitwoods, root woods and exotic timbers newly arrived in England. The makers laid out the patterns, using the contrasts and harmonies of the material, with total respect for its natural beauty and quality. The artistic judgement of the woodworkers in selecting and arranging these pieces, created some of the strongest and most beautiful boxes ever made.
Another type of Tunbridge Ware geometric design was created by the stickware method. This was the gluing and binding together of triangular sticks of wood in contrasting colours, which were made into rods. The rods were then sliced into transverse sections and used as decorative veneers of small geometric patterns. Alternatively the prepared rods were turned to make small objects or ‘toys.’ It was of paramount importance that the rods to be turned were prepared with the utmost precision so they could withstand the vicissitudes of the lathe. Small turned boxes as well as many sewing implements and pens were made in stickware.
Another variation was the gluing together of sticks in different geometric shapes, which when set were cut across and used to create patterns of more variable angles.
In early 19th century boxes, parquetry, vandyke and stickware are often found in decorative combinations, although boxes from the first two decades are more restrained and only feature parquetry and vandyke patterns. The background wood in early 19th century boxes is usually rosewood.
In the late 1820s the small mosaic Tunbridge Ware technique was developed, became popular by the 1830s and remained so to the end of the nineteenth century. This technique entailed selecting and sticking thin sticks of wood of different colour to create a preselected pictorial pattern. When set, the block was sliced to make veneers repeating the same pattern. The pictorial veneers were then stuck to the surface of the box. The result was that the box looked as if it was decorated with inlaid tesserae.
In the best examples of mosaic contrasting colours of wood were used carefully, to create well defined patterns. The wealth of timber varieties available, combined with the great skill of the Tunbridge ware craftsmen made this possible. The timbers used, unlike Italian Sorrento ware, were in their natural colour, although sometimes this colour was enhanced with chemical processes.
The mosaic technique was used to create geometric border patterns as well as more ambitious representations of flora, fauna, people and buildings. Many of the patterns were copied from Berlin woolwork and motifs of Tunbridge Ware boxes of this period are often referred to as Berlin woolwork designs.
The timbers used as the background veneers for the boxes of this period are varied. Rosewood was still predominant, but bird’s eye maple, fruitwoods, ebony and other woods were also used.
The mosaic technique is a very interesting example of the aptitude of the Tunbridge Ware workers to assimilate and adapt techniques and designs from other cultures. Stone mosaics were uncovered in the much talked about excavations of the 18th century. Mosaic covered boxes were known in England by the beginning of the 19th century by which time exquisite Sadeli Mosaic had already been introduced from India.
The Tunbridge Ware makers must have studied and understood the principle of this technique as the triangular stickware is an adaptation of Sadeli in wood. The later mosaic is a further development, rejecting geometric pattern and adopting Berlin woolwork naturalistic representations, to create an altogether different effect.
Tunbridge Ware caddies flourished in the middle of the century until the 1870s. They came in all the shapes but with very elaborate decoration in mosaic marquetry.There are caddies with castles, flowers, birds, butterflies, persons, decorated both inside and outside. Sometimes earlier cube designs are also incorporated in the many happy and not so happy combinations
A maverick among Tunbridge Ware makers was Robert Russell who developed his own version of marquetry. This was reminiscent of ecclesiastical neo-gothic patterns and was used either on its own or in conjunction with mosaic work. In an advertisement of 1863 he claimed his new marquetry to be of "superior character". Not many pieces of Russell have survived.
Tunbridge Ware makers became very brand conscious by the 1830s and labelled many of their wares. With a little effort it is not difficult to identify pieces of Berlin mosaic work. It is much more difficult to identify the earlier pieces, but this is of no consequence as their quality speaks volumes by itself.
By the end of the 19th century Tunbridge Ware declined. The competition from cheaper boxes made from thin veneers and strips of simple geometric designs proved fatal to the Tunbridge workshops. Not only were these boxes produced in much larger quantities they were also produced for a very specific purpose i.e. writing boxes, work boxes or tea caddies, which was easier to market to the increasingly wealthy middle classes.
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