Antique Edwardian Silver & Morocco Leather Stamp Box - Birmingham 1906

~Welcome to my auction for this lovely early 20th century stamp storage box~

This is wonderful item from the refined elegance of the Edwardian era in the early 20th century - nowadays emails are the preferred and certainly more convenient method of communication - in the Victorian and Edwardian era postal correspondence could be sent out on an almost daily basis depending on your station in life - naturally any smart desk would need a place for storing your postage stamps and this item would certainly fulfil that purpose.

The box fits a fairly regular design being rectangular in form with a 'curved' interior - this can be seen in picture 6 and 7 - the sloped interior means that it's very easy to slide out stamps rather than trying to pick up them up from the bottom of a flat bottomed box.

The top of the box has a beautiful sterling silver mount - the style is very Edwardian and nature and has bows and swags, roses and an acanthus leaf border.

To the centre of the lid is an oval vacant cartouche where the owner monogram could of been engraved - this piece looks to have never been personalised.

The main body of the box is covered in a deep burgundy morocco leather - I can't be 100% certain what the actual carcass of the box is made of as it is completely covered by the leather, it could be pine wood of maybe even papier mache.

The lid carries full U.K hallmarks for Birmingham 1907 and has the silversmiths mark for Green & Cadbury Ltd.

The stamp box is a good size and often they are seen with internal divisions for 3 different kinds of stamps - this example looks to of never had any internal divisions and has just one long storage area - the box measures 11cm in length x 4.7cm depth x 3.2cm height - the total unpacked weight is 57.4g.

The condition of the item is very good with no real faults to report - the silver mounted lid is well detailed and hasn't been over polished - the hallmarks are also nice and clear - there is a minuscule pin tip sized dink to the cartouche area but this is insignificant and doesn't detract.

As is common with antique leather items the surface can become patinated through handling and many years of use - the oils in our fingers and hands work their way into the surface and darken the most used areas - this phenomenon is most apparent on the front part of the box where the lid lifts up.

It's not quite apparent in the pictures due to the lighting but the leather is a deep burgundy colour - the leather surface areas inside and out are in good condition and show only very limited wear but certainly no damage.

Although this item would of held stamps originally there's no reason why you couldn't use it for rings, trinkets or other small items of jewellery nowadays.

Please study the images provided to satisfy yourself as to the condition of the item - if you have any further questions please ask and I'll be happy to oblige.

Postage to U.K addresses is £4.45 (signed for) - postage to international addresses is £13.95 (tracked / signed).

Thanks for looking.