Collectible Antique Porcupine Quill Boxes from Ceylon

The world renowned Victorian and Albert Museum collections are available for all to visit for free. But much of the collection is not on display but stored away for a future exhibition. Among these rare and fascinating objects is a box made in the 19th century in Ceylon. The box is recorded in ‘Jaffer, A. Furniture from British India and Ceylon: a catalogue of the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Peabody Essex Museum.’ Page376, item number 184 / IM3-1933.

The Sinhalese porcupine quill and ebony box that I refer to was given as a gift to the V&A By Queen Mary in 1933. It is of rectangular form with bands of carefully selected porcupine quills divided between ebony bands inlaid with ivory dots, the interior with highly decorative specimen woods and further ivory patterning.

Today these boxes have been rather overlooked, often they are a bit grubby and more often not worthy of a notable collection. However, just sometimes a special and unusually fine box makes it way into the market. Swiftly pursued by collectors and dealers alike, the cream always floats to the top - eventually.

For the choicest examples of fine antique porcupine quill boxes expertly selected and actively pursued from an international market visit Nick Wells’s website at http://www.idhome.co.uk/boxes-caddies-c-18.html. Nick only buys the best examples of their type and you can be assured that each box has been carefully cleaned, restored and polished ready to be sold from his web site.