Remember "the brothers Adam?"

When I spoke of "the brothers Adam" style in yesterday's blog it was in reference to a hybrid. We've got the real McCoy here! This little gem is a great example of the style, ornate and elegant and infused with the strength of an empire--the 18th Century British Empire.

As you can see from the picture this piece is not big; it's a little mahogany music box. The heavily lacquered three-sided lid lifts on a small piano hinge permitting the top to open and access any contents hidden inside. There's a little "trip" wire that extends up from the mechanism to protrude through the edge of the case. It gets compressed when the lid is lowered and that action turns the music off. The winder for the musical mechanism is located on the underside of the box--easily accessible to the fingers of adults or children.

This little item stole the shop's attention. It demanded repair before a picture could be taken. Suffice it to say that its top arrived disconnected from the box, several laminate pieces needed to be glued and reattached inside the box, and it's legs were loose and wobbly. (Ugh. We all get that way sooner or later.)

My initial suspicion upon seeing this little jewel in the customer's home had me suspecting it was Pakistani or East Indian in origin. I believe I was correct since the British Empire was in India throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries. Whether it was actually made in India or in Great Britain,...Hmmm. That is probably the real question. (I'm guessing India.) Whatever the situation, it will soon be happily home again...yup, I can hear the Wood Talkin.

Dick