A MID 19TH CENTURY ANGLO-INDIAN EBONY WRITING SLOPE

Miles Griffiths Description:
Regency Antique Ebony Reeded Writing Box
This antique writing box dates from around 1815 in the Regency period and is made in solid, reeded ebony.
The writing box opens to show a writing slope with secret drawers and an original ebony ruler.
In lovely, original condition and rare to find a Regency writing box in solid ebony.


A 19th century writing box made circa 1830 in the English colony Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. The writing box is almost entirely made from solid ebony and some parts from (black coloured) teak wood. The entire writing box is very expertly crafted, which clearly shows; the construction of blind & dovetail connections, small tapering pins and to fixate parts and the "ribbed exterior". These and other decorations are very difficult to carry out in one of the heaviest and hardest types of woods in the world! If the writing box is opened once, it functions as a letter stand with a writing area for small notes. The writing area is lined with the original black fabric, which is harder than the writing sheet, because it also protected against sliding when the writing box is opened further. If the writing box is opened another time, the larger writing area is visible and the compartments for the ink & sand jar and a pen tray among other things become visible. Both halves of the writing area can be opened with space underneath it for documents (paper). The shelf on which the top half of the writing area rests, can be taken out, whereby three secret drawers appear. These dovetailed drawers are made of teak wood, with ebony front and a red leather handle. The writing box still has all its original brass fittings, including the corner pieces, for reinforcement purposes and decoration, the hinges, the key entrance and the lock with working key. The woodwork seems to have some (red) brown and white-grey stains, but these are small colour nuances in the ebony and shows that the wood has not been additionally blackened to make it look even fancier! The writing box has a beautiful, rich and stately appearance because of the jet-black ebony in combination with the polished brass mounts. And a beautiful satin shine also due to the wax finish and the "ribbed" decoration, which comes into its own very nicely because of the original polished finish.