Victorian Coromandel Vanity Box Glyn Cywarch Estate

From our Vanity Box collection, we are delighted to offer this exceptional Victorian Coromandel Vanity Box from the Glyn Cywarch Estate. The box veneered in exotic Coromandel bound and double strung in brass with solid brass campaign carry handles and an engraved circular escutcheon. To the lid, an initial plaque sits to the centre bordered by further brass stringing with an initial monogram reading GHME. When opened the Vanity Box reveals twelve hand-cut hobnail glass containers finished with heavily engraved Silver lids with a central letter G encrusted with rubies and turquoise stones. Each lid is gilded to the inside and hallmarked Sterling Silver James Vickery, London 1857. The glass containers held in Royal blue velvet partitions. The inner lid of the Box is fitted with a stand alone mirror having the original mirror plate which is beautifully engraved around the proximity with a ruched velvet rear upon a royal blue silk water paper completing the rear bracket. When removed, the mirror reveals the hidden document storage to the rear with fold out pouch. The top tray is surrounded by beautifully engraved brasswork on the lock plates and hinges. The front lock plate signed Henry Lewis, Goldsmith, Jeweller & Dressing Case Maker, 7. New Bond St. London. W.

The front centre of the top tray houses a small catch which presses down to allow access to the drop down front which is fitted with a selection of Mother of Pearl tools and various accoutrements including three pairs of scissors, silver corkscrew and a Mother of Pearl hand mirror. The middle drawer opens at the engraved brass handle and houses a selection of vanity accessories including brushes and glove stretchers which all contain the matching monogram found on the lid. Below the middle drawer is a hidden drawer which does not feature any handle, it can be accessed by pushing the central screw at the back of the tray. Once the screw is pushed down the tray springs open to access the partitioned drawer for storing higher value objects such as watches and rings. A second hidden compartment is located beneath this drawer which can only be accessed once the first hidden drawer is fully removed. Once removed the floor of the compartment can be pushed back and then lifted to access the final secret storage box.

This exceptional box is from the collection of Lord Harlech and was part of the Glyn Cywarch property.

Coromandel is a valuable wood found in India, Sri Lanka and South East Asia. It has a contrasting hazel-brown colour with black grain. It is a dense, heavy wood that is so popular it has been logged to extinction over the last few hundred years. This makes Calamander pieces even more special.

Glyn Cywarch is located near Talsarnau the Ardudwy area of Gwynedd in Wales. It is a Grade II listed manor house and it originally belonged to a branch of the Wynn family, descended from Osbwrn Wyddel. The present house was built for William and Kathryn Wynn in 1616. It is an ambitious gentry house of Renaissance character. The house displays a distinctive layout comprising two linked dwellings one to the rear of the main house originally facing away from it is a smaller block, with a secondary dwelling (dower house). The two were linked by the rear wing of the main house which was also later extended with the addition of another wing in parallel during restoration in the 1870s.

The original layout of the property conformed to a regional sub-medieval pattern of hall (originally with lateral fireplace) and parlour in the main range. Renaissance influence is suggested by the housing of a well-stair and kitchen in a rear wing. This layout does not survive intact, but original detail of a high order relating to this original plan survived. There is a fine plasterwork overmantel to the parlour fireplace which houses an armorial panel and flanking figures of Adam and Eve. There are also similarly enriched fireplaces to the first floor chambers featuring plaster armorial panels as overmantels, dated 1638 and 1639. Leading from the front range to the rear kitchen wing, a fine Jacobean door is resited, probably from Clenenney. Panelling on the upper landing was brought from Penrhos Old Hall, Montgomeryshire. In the former secondary dwelling inscriptions painted by Ellis Wynn, third son of William and Kathryn.

In the 17th century, the estate came by marriage into the hands of the Owens of Clenenney and Brogyntyn, and for most of the 18th century Glyn was the agent’s house, but in the 19th century, the property began to be used for summer visits.  It remains with the same family (despite several name changes due to passing through the female line), and is still a secondary house, a fact which may have contributed to its survival without major alteration.  However, the fact that the family title, conferred in 1876, is Baron Harlech may indicate that the estate was always considered of importance to the family.

Baron Harlech of Harlech in the County of Merioneth is a title in the Peerage (nobility) of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1876 for the Conservative politician John Ormsby-Gore. He had previously represented Carnarvon and North Shropshire in the House of Commons. Ormsby-Gore was the eldest son of William Ormsby-Gore, Member of Parliament for County Leitrim, Carnarvon and North Shropshire, and the great-great-great-grandson of William Gore, third and youngest son of Sir Arthur Gore, 1st Baronet, of Newtown, second son of Sir Paul Gore, 1st Baronet, of Magharabag, whose eldest son Paul was the grandfather of Arthur Gore, 1st Earl of Arran.

Lord Harlech was succeeded according to the special remainder by his brother William, the second Baron. He was a former Conservative Member of Parliament for County Sligo and County Leitrim and also served as Lord Lieutenant of County Leitrim for many years. His son, the third Baron, represented Oswestry in the House of Commons as a Conservative between May 1901 – June 1904. And he also served as Lord Lieutenant of County Leitrim and of Merionethshire. He was succeeded by his son, the fourth Baron. He was a Conservative politician and notably served as Postmaster-General, First Commissioner of Works and Secretary of State for the Colonies. His second but eldest surviving son, the fifth Baron, was a prominent Conservative politician and diplomat. From 1961 to 1965 he served as British Ambassador to the United States. As of 2016, the title is held by his grandson, the seventh Baron, who succeeded in 2016.

The family seat is Glyn Cywarch, near Talsarnau, Gwynedd, Wales.

James Vickery was recorded as a silversmith in 1852 located at 4, Woodbridge Street, Clerkenwell. By 1855 he had relocated to 20, King Square, Goswell Road, Clerkenwell and then again by 1880 to 11, Lavers Road, Stoke Newington. He was a known maker of Silver fittings used in dressing cases. James Vickery entered his first mark at the London Assay Office on the 5th of August 1851, and a further mark on the 8th of November 1880.

Henry Lewis est. Circa 1876 was a Goldsmith, Jeweller & Dressing Case Maker located at 7 & 172 New Bond Street, London and 109 Mount Street, London.

Measurements (centimetres) 22.5cm High x 36cm Wide x 28cm Deep