Uit Verre Streken / From Distant Shores - June 2022 - Zebregs&Röell

the Sir Cuthbert Grundly comb-case, dated 1672, a round powder box lid and comb case in a private U.S. collection, dated 1677, and the ‘Lady Smith’ casket, which is considered the artist’s masterpiece.

The Hawksbill Turtle’s shell was a widely used material and can be regarded as plastic avant la lettre, having the ability to bend when heated. These turtles were common in the oceans until hunted down almost to extinction, only to be (successfully) protected in the 20th century. This set is a beautiful but poignant expression of a painful cultural moment. Bought with wealth generated by enslaved Africans, it embodies the English appreciation of Jamaica’s glorious natural history and the simultaneous savaging of it.

For a comparable circular powder box with a domed lid inlaid with a few pieces of mother-of-pearl, three silver mouldings around the box and the lid, and engravings of indigenous flower heads and scrolling foliate motifs, see: Uit Verre Streken, June 2012, no. 4.