Full of Memories - a photo on Flickriver

Full of Memories

            Although not the most valuable object that I own, this is one of my most precious pieces.  This is my Great Grandmother’s small Anglo-Indian jewellery box, which she brought back from India after she and my Grandfather finished a period in the diplomatic corps during the Raj just before the Great War.  It is precious to me because it holds some of the most tangible memories I have of my Great Grandmother and my Grandmother.  This sat on my Great Grandmother’s dressing table and housed some of her everyday jewellery.  I remember visiting her and watching her take out her pearls and cameos and glittering rings when she was getting ready to receive visitors or to go out.  Even when I hold it now or hear the rich sounds of the box lid as it closes, in my mind I can still smell her violet and lily of the valley perfumes and her cold cream.  When she died, my Grandmother inherited it and it sat on her dressing table.  When I hold it, I can hear her laugh as I played with the pearl necklaces, earrings and rings that she kept in there, including the Regency ebony and ivory earrings I called “Flora” and “Fauna”.  The yellowing of the ivory is a sign of its advanced age, and its edges have been worn by many hands touching them over the last century: not least of all mine.  

The theme for Smile on Saturday for the 15th of May is “full of memories”.  The challenge was to search for something that brings back a certain memory, take a picture of it and share what memories it brings back for you.  I have inherited so many items from my Grandparent’s estates that hold great sentimental value for me.  The hard part for me about this challenge, was choosing one object out of the many.  As I have used my Grandfather’s chess set several times before for other challenges in this group, I settled upon this beloved little jewellery box, which is full of memories.

The jewellery box itself is an Anglo-Indian (Indian made but designed for the British market who lived in India during the Raj) made in the 1890s.  It is fashioned from ebony and rosewood with the most exquisite hand-made geometric marquetry inlay of ivory and mother of pearl.  The detail photos show how intricate the geometric pattern is, and how perfectly each piece is fitted.  This might impress you even more when you think that the box itself is ten and a half centimetres long, by six and half centimetres wide and four and a half centimetres deep.  The ebony frames to the hexagons on the lid are one millimetre thick, the vertical rosewood bands on the ivory edge of the lid are half a millimetre in width, the smallest triangles on the sides each have sides of one millimetre in length and the triangles around the flowers on the lid have sides less than half a millimetre in length: and all of this was made with precision by hand by a master artisan more than a century ago.

Taken on: May 8, 2021

Tags:

Smile on Saturday!

full with memories

memories

memory

geometric pattern

pattern

table

box

antique

jewellery box

jewellery casket

casket

Anglo Indian jewellery box

Anglo Indian jewellery casket

Anglo Indian box

jewelery box

Anglo Indian

marquetry

Anglo Indian marquetry

Indian jewellery box

Indian jewellery casket

Indian box

Indian marquetry

wood

wooden

rosewood

ivory

ebony

mother of pearl

inlay

inlaid

design

Victorian

Victoriana

Empire

British Empire

British Raj

Raj

collectable

collection

old

vintage

tabletop

tabletop photography

hand made

made by hand

heirloom

1890s

Nineteenth Century

19th Century

wooden box

inlaid wooden box

lidded box « less

Sets appears in: • Victoriana • Collectables more » • Smile on Saturday • Against a Black Background • Photos During the Time of Pandemic « less

Groups appears in: • Collections • Patterns and Designs more » • collection and collectors • ~ Antiques ~ • Patterns • Photographic Art • Cool Old Stuff • Antique • Nice pictures • Old Stuff • Victorianism • Antiques • History is All Around Us • Vintage Victorian • Collectors: Please read posting guidelines • the collection collective • Object Collections • PIM - Photographers in Melbourne • Opulence & Other Fancy Things. • elegance in art and design • COLLECTIONS ON DISPLAY • old & vintage • Amazing Antiques • .·:*¨*:·.Nostalgia.·:*¨*:·. • Antiques, Collectibles, Fine Art, Jewelry • **Collections for Collectors (CFC) No Limits** • DETAILED ARTWORK • Antiquário 〄 Ye Olde Antiques Shoppe 〄 Αντίκες • the art of collecting .. • ! F l i c k r | S t y l e ! • Old & attractive • DazzlePix RETRO, VINTAGE & ANTIQUE • School of Digital Photography • The Victorian World • Items and Art from B.C. - 1912 A.D. • Objects & Art • Group for all users of FLICKR - No 30/60 Groups Limit • Smile on Saturday! :-) • FLICKR INTERNATIONAL - No 30/60 Groups Limit • The best photographs from around the world. • Photo-Phactory • BEAUTY PHOTOS AROUND THE WORLD • *** Details,Macro,Objects,Flowers *** • *** Nikon,Canon,Sony,Fuji,Leica,Pentax,Iphone,Huawei,Samsung ... • Follow me my friends (public) « less

Camera: Canon DIGITAL IXUS 80 IS, f/2.8, 1/15 sec, 6.2mm, ISO 500 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon DIGITAL IXUS 80 IS
Aperture:	f/2.8
Exposure Time:	0.067 sec (1/15)
Focal Length:	6.2mm
ISO:	500
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Windows Photo Editor 10.0.10011.16384
Show full info

Stats: 5,914 views / 80 comments