
Charlie Thomas
Group Head, Private Collections, Furniture & Works of Art, U.K
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£1,500 - £2,000
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Group Head, Private Collections, Furniture & Works of Art, U.K

Paper filigree work was fashionable during the last part of the eighteenth century through to the early part of the nineteenth century. Paper was rolled up to create small coils and then gilded or coloured to simulate metalwork. Often, as in this case, coloured engravings were added into the overall design.
The technique was mostly carried out by ladies for amusement or taught at ladies' schools. In 1786 an account of paper filigree work was published in the New Ladies' Magazine illustrating stylised floral patterns and borders, palmettes and garlands. See A.Clarke and J. O'Kelly, Antique Boxes, Tea Caddies, & Society 1700-1880, pp.117-118.