varying from light to dark, and
from fine to coarse, each lock being labelled with the date and
particulars of its acquisition. It would be well perhaps not to enter
too closely into the source of some of these specimens, which had
peculiar interest to the dusky king. It is said that some of them were
chiefly admired for their settings, which included mounting with rare
emeralds. The collection of emeralds, of which he had some of marvellous
beauty and lustre, was another of that monarch's hobbies.

Jewel Cabinets.

In association with the toilet table are the numerous boxes which have
been made as receptacles for jewels. From the days when the dower chest
contained a small compartment for valuable trinkets the furniture of the
lady's boudoir has been incomplete without a jewel box or some article
of furniture where the knick-knacks of the home could be kept, and more
especially the wearable jewellery. The Chinese and Japanese have ever
been clever in the fashioning of small cabinets, and many delightful
little boxes, cabinets, and jewellery receptacles have been brought over
to this country.

Some of the old lacquer ware is exceptionally interesting, the
decorations upon such pieces being doubly so when the legends they
depict are fully realized and understood. The accompanying illustrations
represent four Japanese jewel cases which are exceptionally fine curios.
Fig. 70 is decorated on the outside of the doors with a view of
Itsukushima; and there are two peacocks on the top, and the two elders
of Takasago are depicted on the back. The bamboo and the plum are
designs symbolical of longevity. This truly exceptional piece was sold
in the auction rooms of Glendining & Co., who also disposed of the
remarkable jewel box shaped as a pagoda, illustrated in Fig. 71, a very
beautiful piece elaborately decorated with birds and landscapes, and the
box illustrated in Fig. 68 and small cabinet, Fig. 69.

X

THE OLD WORKBOX

CHAPTER X

THE OLD WORKBOX

Spinning wheels--Materials and work--Little
accessories--Cutlery--Quaint woodwork--The needlewoman--Old
samplers.

Under the generic term of "workbox" the curios of the household
associated with the industrial handiwork of former days may well be
reviewed. There is no record of when receptacles for ladies' work were
first introduced, although, no doubt, in very early days small oak
boxes, carved, and bearing the owner's initials, and other