Rare Trinity House Alms Box c.1890

Highly collectable and rare Trinity House Alms box in fine condition. The boxes are said to have been made by people employed by the lighthouse service and were made in a variety of box styles, the majority tending to be work/sewing boxes. Each item is individually made and featured one or more boats and/or lightships. A variety of woods were used invariably including walnut and satin wood. There is a huge amount of very interesting information on the web re’ Trinity House. Formed over 500 years ago during the reign of King Henry Viii with ever increasing responsibilities re’ the welfare of seafarers in British waters granted by many subsequent Kings and Queens mainly in relating to lighthouses and lightships. The worlds first lightship was launched in 1732 and they continued in service until 1989!! This particular box features a panel to the box front depicting a combination steam/sail ship transporting cargo. Multi bands to the top of the box including a Tunbridge Ware style band framing contrasting veneers with a slot to the centre edged with Tunbridge Style bands. The sides and back of the box feature a centre panel of mahogany with light wood edging and walnut outer borders. At some point in time a previous owner obviously wanted to remove the coins from the box and had encountered difficulty but did not want to damage the keen edges of the slot to the top. Someone had decided to cut the base and the consequence is that the veneer to the edges of the base of the section removed has been replaced. A quite reasonable job was done in terms of colour of veneer, grain direction etc and the base section, to empty the contents is now a simple task that will not result in any further difficulty. Technically Trinity House boxes cannot be described as being of high quality construction. However, what they lack in quality they more than make up for by pure charm and character and individuality. The simple lines of the ships depicted are skilfully done to resemble the ships in an accurate manner. When first made the panel would have been more colourful, the sky and sea more vibrant blue/green…the browns and smoke from the three chimneys darker etc but the faded colouring certainly adds to the charm and character of the items. Aside from maritime responsibilities Trinity House is also a registered charity and the style and purpose of the box would suggest that the box was used to collect contributions to what was (and still is) a worthy cause. The unique box is in excellent condition with no missing or replaced veneer or inlays. Given the crisp edge for the coin slot I would suggest that very few funds were collected. It is always a bonus to come across any box that can be accurately associated with a person or organisation and an even larger bonus when the history is so incredibly interesting.