19th-Century Rosewood Gentleman’s Travelling Case, c.1870

19th-century rosewood gentleman’s travelling case, c. 1870, with brass banding and a mother-of-pearl plaque on the top, surrounded by double brass banding. Two brass lift-out handles are set in the box on either side. The case features mother-of-pearl escutcheons with brass banding to both the upper and lower sections. There is a separate key for each section.

The upper section opens to reveal a rust-red rouched velvet lid with a catch that opens to a leather-lined section for papers. The upper section has a brass plate at the centre between the hinges, engraved ‘I. Turrill, Dressing and Writing Case Maker Regent Street’. The brass lock plate is also stamped ‘TURRILL 250 REGENT STREET’ and ‘PATENT’. The upper section is divided into two leather-lined sections; one is divided to hold five glass bottles of various sizes with silver-plated tops (one of the larger bottles is broken at the top). In front of this is a lift-out tray, with two glass bottles and two glass jars (with silver-plated tops) and three cut glass glass dishes, two of which have silver-plated lids with decorative scrolling. Once the tray is removed, there is another section below. The lower section is silk-lined and partitioned, with repairs in a dark fabric to two sections.