Embossed box
Probably Philadelphia or New York
1830-1845
Measurements
1-5/8 in x 5-5/8 in x 2-7/8 in
Materials
Gold embossed paper, silver embossed paper, and pasteboard
Credit Line
Historic Odessa Foundation, The David Wilson Mansion, Inc.
Accession Number
1971.1519
Inscription
“Box probably made by / Mary Corbit Wilson at / West Town Boarding Scho[ol] / about 1820” is written in pencil onto the inside of the lid.
Condition Notes
Two opposite corners of the lid appear to have been reinforced with strips of paper glued to the inside. Small sections of the silver embossed trim, including one end, have fallen away. Some edges of the trim are worn.
The gold-leaf embossed paper has not tarnished, although the silver-leaf embossed trim has.
Provenance
Ex coll. Mrs. E. Tatnall (Mary Corbit) Warner
Comments
The small rectangular box with a fitted lid of the same size is made of pasteboard covered in a gold-leaf covered paper embossed in a basket-weave pattern. The top is outlined in a 5/16-inch wide trim made of embossed silver-leaf-covered paper. The same trim borders the top outside of the box and the bottom outside of the lid. The inside of the box is lined in a salmon-red colored paper.
The embossed trim resembles die-rolled silver decoration and suggests a likely date-range for the box. The inscription written by Mrs. Mary Corbit Warner identifies her mother, Mary Corbit Wilson, as the maker with a date of "about 1820," neither of which is likely at all. Mary C. Wilson (1811-1880) matriculated in 1827 and likely remained a student for two or three years. She may have owned the box, but its manufacture required advanced skills and machinery for its time.
