{"product_id":"a-complete-gentlemans-dressing-case-in-sterling-silver-1908","title":"A Complete Gentleman's Dressing Case in Sterling Silver, 1908","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA complete Edwardian gentleman's dressing case by Asprey \u0026amp; Co, London, hallmarked 1908. Sterling silver carriage clock, hip flask, mirror, hairbrush, button hook and pomade pots with matching London hallmarks throughout, and a ducal coronet with the initials L.D. gold-stamped on the lid.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA dressing case is a household folded into hand luggage, and this one was built by the firm that made the form its own. It is tan leather over brass, the size of a hardback book, and it opens with its original key onto a cream silk interior where every object still sits in the strapped compartment Asprey cut for it in 1908.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe silver inside is a single family: clock, flask, mirror, brush, button hook and pomade pots all hallmarked London 1908 with the mark of Charles and George Asprey, joined by the tortoiseshell comb, the gilt-topped bottles and the shaving brush the case was fitted with. The centrepiece is the miniature carriage clock, Asprey London on its enamel dial, its silver handle folding flat so the lid can close over it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe lid carries a duke's coronet over the initials L.D. Who L.D. was, the case does not say; the five strawberry leaves alone place its first century in one of Britain's great households, and the order that created it at the top of Asprey's book.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt has aged the way leather and silver should. The case shows honest wear with some cracking, the lock turns securely, the silk is clean, the hallmarks are crisp, and the pomade lids still close flush; the clock is original and unserviced, running order available on request, and the comb has lost a tooth or two. Everything else is exactly where 1908 left it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCases like this were usually emptied piece by piece, a flask going one way and a clock the other. This one stayed together, which is the whole point of it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe maker, the contents and the coronet are set out in the rooms below; the condition and the particulars are beneath them.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Asprey \u0026 Co","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54555536785747,"sku":"CI-0025","price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1080\/3121\/3907\/files\/asprey-co-london-tan-leather-with-brass-lock-mechanism-curiosity-item-1_hero.jpg?v=1786467968","url":"https:\/\/estatecollection.nl\/products\/a-complete-gentlemans-dressing-case-in-sterling-silver-1908","provider":"The Estate Collection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}