Lady's Workbox, 1808

The workbox as given to Elizabeth Gifford

The Lady's workbox in the Judges' Lodgings Museum, Lancaster, was made in 1808 in Lancaster by Gillows (trading as Robert Gillow and Brothers).[1]

It is documented in the Gillow Estimate Sketchbooks in 1808. The recipient was Miss Elizabeth Gifford of Nerquis Hall.[2] The workbox is decorated with 72 'rare and curious woods'. The craftsman was Francis Dowbiggin, son of Thomas Dowbiggin.

Gillows

Gillows, also known as Gillow & Co., was a furniture making firm based in Lancaster and London. It was originally founded in Lancaster in about 1730 by Robert Gillow (1704-1772).[3] The Robert Gillow of the box would be the founder's grandson, Robert [iii] Gillow, whose brothers George [ii] Gillow; and Richard [iii] Gillow joined the family firm.[4] Gillows was owned by the family until 1814.

As a result of Lancaster's Atlantic triangular trade, much timber was imported from the Caribbean.[5] However, the port was going into decline about the time the box was made. Lancaster was barred from taking part in the slave trade in 1799 and the slave trade was abolished in the British Empire in 1807.[6]

The marquetry

The top of the lid showing 25 specimens.

The workbox is decorated with marquetry using 72 'rare and curious woods'. The interest is two fold, firstly it gives samples of 75 types of woods giving their 18th century names, and secondly it gives an insight into the woods then available in Lancaster.

Catalogue of the Specimens of Curious Woods (English and Foreign) Introduced in a W0RK- BOX, made for Miss GIFFARD, of Nerquis, by ROBERT GILLOW and BROTHERS, of Lancaster, in August, 1808.

  1. English Oak
  2. Spanish Mahogany
  3. Sycamore
  4. Tulip Wood
  5. Sandal
  6. Partridge Wood
  7. East India Yew
  8. Zebra
  9. Orange Wood
  10. Jamaica Satinwood
  11. King Wood
  12. Dutch Elm
  13. Iron Wood
  14. Guietiety
  15. Manganiel
  16. Rose Wood
  17. East India Satinwood
  18. Caracoa
  19. Canary Wood
  20. Botany Bay Wood
  21. Yellow Sander
  22. Casuarina Wood
  23. Black Ebony
  24. Holly
  25. Brown Ebony
  26. Green Ebony
  27. Angola Wood
  28. Tamarind Wood
  29. Amboyna Wood
  30. Purple Wood
  31. Gambia Wood
  32. English Yew
  33. Snake Wood
  34. St Johns Wood
  35. Guiana Wood
  36. Ceylon Wood
  37. Havannah Wood
  38. English Pear Tree
  39. Brazils Wood
  40. Nova Scotia Wood
  41. Calmandra
  42. Camphire Wood
  43. English Maple
  44. Mangrove
  45. Grove Wood
  46. Mill Wood
  47. Italian Walnut
  48. Wood Sandford
  49. Cape Wood
  50. Honduras Satinwood
  51. Kangaroo Wood
  52. English Apple Tree
  53. Box
  54. Brown Box
  55. Air wood
  56. American Yew
  57. American Maple
  58. Hiccory
  59. Plane Tree
  60. English Oak, cut from Framing of Lancaster Castle old gates
  61. Fustic
  62. Mexican Wood
  63. Plumb Tree
  64. Poplar Tree
  65. Moss Oak
  66. White Ebony
  67. Manilla
  68. Barr Wood
  69. American Beech
  70. Dutch Oak
  71. English Beech
  72. English Ash

Savacue Wood, Parama wood and Orange Wood were used to frame the samples [7]

References

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  1. ↑ Workbox (accession Number LANMS.2006.8). Lancashire Museums
  2. ↑ Nerquis (Welsh: Nercwys) is a village in Flintshire, Wales. See Nerquis Hall for details of Miss Gifford and her house.
  3. ↑ Boynton 1995.
  4. ↑ Stuart, Susan E. (2004), "Gillow family (per. c.1730–c.1830)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press), doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/67319, retrieved 6 November 2014 (subscription or UK public library membership required)
  5. ↑ Trade - Import/Export. Lancashire Museums
  6. ↑ Abolition. Lancashire Museums
  7. ↑ Display panel 2014.

Bibliography

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