Casket Box by J. Lawley of Bath

A leather on softwood Casket or small Trunk by J. Lawley of Bath.

The Casket has small domed head brass studs to the edges of the trunk for added protection and further studs used for the swag decoration to the front of the box and to the top surrounding the handle. A strip of red leather has also been added to the edges of the two halves of the trunk where the lid meets the box. The base has two sledge feet running from side to side at the front and back.

The Casket has a key with a brass cover to the escutcheon of the lock plate. The hasp bar has been replaced. As was common with many trunks, the interior is lined with recycled newsprint that has been over printed with a blue pattern. Some of the print is still legible and can be seen from various issues of The Lancet from May, July and August 1825. The Lancet was a weekly medical journal first published by Thomas Wakley two years previously.

The maker's label is to the interior of the lid and notes 'J. Lawley, Trunk, Portmanteau, Imperial, Plate and Packing Case Maker, No. 8, Union Passage, Bath. A quirk of the Casket is the handle has not been set to the middle of the top but is half an inch closer to one side.

Joseph Lawley in an interesting West Country maker and the trunk can be dated from The Lancet lining paper to circa 1825.