Victorian mahogany artist's box Rogers of London With key , And Paint Blocks.

Measures 14 x 20.5 x 7 cm

With locking key and pin for drawer.

A mahogany box, with a hinged lid, lower drawer, and original working lock with key. A wooden lid which lifts out to reveal a section below.
On the underside of the lid is the original trade label which reads “Rogers’s Superior London-Made Water Colors… the great superiority of these colors has been proved by the society of arts having awarded Joshua Rogers their large special prize gold medal”, the text within an ornate border of floral scrolls, birds, architecture etc.
The lower drawer opens with a lift of the pin. The business card for Jasmin Cameron was found in here, so possibly this was purchased from her ?

Joshua Rogers was listed as an artist’s colourman by the 1840s, he advertised the award of the 'Society of Arts Large Special Prize Council's Medal' in 1853 for the superiority of his colours, brushes, pencils, etc., an award which is elsewhere identified for his enormously famous “Shilling Colour Box”. Around 1872 he had an account with Roberson (the maker of the palette in the lower drawer), who supplied artists materials and colours to several famous nineteenth century artists such as William Holman Hunt, John Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
A wonderful survivor of a bygone time, and with evidence of continued use, this compendium of an artists creativity is a genuine snapshot of nineteenth century artistic life, and an original and lasting look to the methods and materials used by painters working nearly 150 years ago.