Dealer & Collector: Rick Scott
Location: Bustamante Antiques Show & Sale
Featured Items: a tea caddy, spa-ware from Belgium, two fruit shaped boxes, tea caddies made from tortoise shell, visiting card cases, an expensive French box, precious boxes, Chinese-made gaming box, sewing boxes and a workbox
Details: Back in the 1800s if you owned a box like the ones in Rick Scott's booth you were somebody. They were delights for the affluent, crafted by skilled artisans out of only the finest materials. At their core they're containers, but more often than not, it seems function takes a backseat to form. How else could you explain a gun-shaped snuffbox made from burl wood and brass? Or a glove box that raises storage to an art form? Dealer and collector Rick Scott bought his first box in 1974, and he's been captivated ever since.
- Prior to the 19th century, tea was such a precious commodity it was often kept under lock and key. A circa 1850-60 Chinese tea caddy exported for the European trade has two pewter tea canisters on the inside. This large tea caddy with intricate decorations painted entirely by hand, sometimes with a brush that had only one hair. It is valued at $4,500.
- Equally prized by collectors are tea caddies made from tortoise shell, and the examples in Rick's booth vary in price from $4,000 for brown tortoise shell to $10,000 for a rare green tortoise shell caddy.
- A rare early 19th century spa souvenir (spa-ware) from Belgium included hand paintings of the resort on the sides and lid. It is valued at $4,900.
- Two fruit shaped boxes from the late 1700s or early 1800s. Shaped like an apple and a pear, they are made from apple wood and pear wood respectively, with steel hinges and locks. They are finely crafted and valued between $8,000 to $11,000 each.
- During the Victorian era, when you went to visit someone, it was appropriate to leave a calling card behind. You would carry them around in beautiful boxes, and since they were symbols of status, they were made out of precious materials like silver, abalone and mother of pearl. These magnificent little containers that looked like cigarette cases but are in fact visiting card cases. Today collectors pay $300 and up for them.
- An expensive French box made from silver and tortoise shell. The top is spring-loaded and sells for about $1,600.
- Precious boxes come in all shapes and sizes from a miniscule thimble holder to a monumental jewelry chest.
- An intricately decorated Chinese-made gaming box circa 1870. It sells for $2,400.
Beautiful boxes were made all over the world for various purposes and in some surprising materials.
- Sewing boxes made out of porcupine quills, water buffalo horn and ivory. Asian porcupine quills could be collected from the forest floor, as the animals shed their quills. The larger of the two boxes is made up of several compartments, and the interior is fashioned of sandalwood. It was made in India in about 1850, with ivory feet and engraved lacquer-filled ivory decoration. The boxes are valued between $7,000 to $8,000.
- A workbox with a rich wood exterior and an ivory interior accented with red and white lacquer. It contains a removable tray of ivory-decorated compartments, underneath which sits another set of compartments, inlaid with luxurious woods. It is worth $3,000. Rick finds these boxes in England, because that's the market they were made for. They are very difficult to find today.
Beauty and practicality--19th century elite found the combination too alluring to pass up, and so do modern collectors. Scott says there's something more to their 21st century appeal. He says they're intriguing because there's a certain mystery to them. Each is like a treasure chest, setting the mind to wondering who owned these boxes and what was concealed inside.
