Country House Posting Box

Country House Posting Box.

A fine Victorian country house post box, Walnut with carved details, cut barley twist columns at the canted corners and with fine and very attractive floral marquetry to the door and either side, all done in the English style of circa 1700; an ivory band beneath to posting slot declaring the times of the post.

Following Sir Rowland Hill’s reforms of the Post Office in 1840, the cheap and reliable post service lead to an exponential rise in letter writing. It became customary to have a letters box such as this made for the hallway of a country house, emptied at set intervals by a servant who would then take the letters to the nearest post office for onward delivery.

This example English circa 1860. It seems likely that this box was commissioned for an English country house built, or at least furnished, during the William and Mary period when this style of cabinet work and ‘Dutch’ marquetry would have been at the height of fashion.

w:10 3/8 in x d:9 3/8 in x h:22 ¼.

Ivory registered with DEFRA.

Price

This object is eligible for a Certificate of BADA Provenance

Stock number