This is a striking Victorian Cut Glass Dressing Table Box with a Sterling Silver Lid. The glass box is hobnail cut on all sides including the base. The lid has a chased flower and foliage design surrounding a central cartouche which is elegantly engraved with the initials E A M.

The dressing table box was made in London by John Howes and dates to 1855. John Howes registered his mark at Goldsmith’s Hall in London in 1844. He specialised in good quality silver mounted glassware and boxes for use on dressing tables and desks. He remained in business into the 1860s.

Condition is good, with just a small chip in the glass rim, a few pinholes in the lid where it has been polished through plus the superficial surface wear that you would expect after over 165 years of good service. Please make sure to view all the photographs as these form part of the description.

The box measures 17.8cm / 7ins by 4.4cm / 1.7ins and stands 3.4cm / 1.3ins high. The lid by itself weighs in at a substantial 91.4g / 3.2oz of solid Sterling Silver and all together it weighs 376.8g / 13.3oz.

The hallmarks, on the underside of the lid, are well struck and clear to read. They show the lion passant for Sterling Silver, the leopard's head assay mark for London, the Gothic date letter U for 1855, the Queen Victoria duty mark and the J H makers' mark for John Howes.