A very pleasing Victorian cotton reel holder made from a single piece of turned and polished boxwood. The container is fitted with its original four cotton reel spindles. The lid fits beautifully, and its top has a wonderful turned finial - and as you can see, it has a wonderful patina created from 150 years of loving care and use. It's an arrestingly beautiful object, and is deserving of your finest silk threads. 

History

Treen, "of a tree", is a generic name for small vintage and antique handmade functional household objects made of wood. Today, treen is highly collectable for its beautiful patina and tactile appeal. Before the advent of cheap metal wares in industrialized societies, and later, plastic, wood played a much greater part as the raw material for common objects. Turning and carving were the key manufacturing techniques. The selection of wood species was important, and close-grained native hardwoods such as box, beech and sycamore were particularly favoured, with occasional use of exotics, such as lignum vitae for mallet heads.

Anything from wooden plates, bowls, small boxes, spoons, shoehorns and chopping boards can be classed as treen, such as our wonderful cotton holder offered here. Their strongly functional and undecorated forms are now highly regarded by designers and collectors. We love treen.

Dimensions of container: Height 10cm  Diameter 12.3cm

Origin: UK

Date c.1880

Materials: boxwood

Condition: perfect