A good early Victorian housekeeper's tidy of Shaker style proportions, with integrated handle, and a lovely time-worn patina. Excellent for the storage of cutlery beside the dining table or in the kitchen to hold bread knives, wooden spoons, and other utensils. It could also be used as an open tool box for tools, screws, nails and all those bits and bobs you need for DIY around the home; and is also excellent for artist's materials or could act as a shoe cleaning box. In fact it's totally purposeful.

Provenance: The Tudor House, Old Town Hastings, UK

Country of origin: UK

Date of manufacture: c.1890

Material: pine

Dimensions: Width 38.5cm  Depth 26cm Height to top of handle 13cm

Condition: excellent

The Christmas House

The Tudor House, Hastings, also known as The Christmas House, when it opened to visitors each December, had a place in the hearts of the many that passed through its wee front door.  It was a magical experience, and was likened to stepping into a Brothers Grimm fairytale.  The house is now sold and has passed into memory, yet its magical contents are not quite gone, as Alastair has saved the best for last - for our extra-special Christmas House Contents Sale.

The eclectic mix of primitive Eastern European furniture, English country furniture, folk-art and Black Forest antiques chosen for the house were honest and humble, yet always remarkable, and put together with a sense of theatre - to achieve a more contemporary take on the past.  “It’s all about a careful mix, a telling of a story, and I hope others will find pleasure in the treasures I’ve collected and curated” says Alastair.  “Select pieces that create surprise, that transform your space beyond reality!”