THE WARREN HASTINGS WRITING BOX: AN HISTORIC ANGLO-INDIAN EBONY AND IVORY-INLAID WRITING BOX BEARING THE ARMS OF WARREN HASTINGS, FIRST GOVERNOR GENERAL OF INDIA

June 9 2009, 4:42pm

The present box, bearing the arms of its owner Warren Hastings, is a superb example of the craftsmanship typical of Indian cabinetmakers working in the port of Vizagapatam in the mid-18th century. It is particularly notable in being larger than many known specimens, and containing an array of beautifully worked drawers on the inside, further enhanced with tortoiseshell veneer complementing the bands of ivory on the interior. This piece would have been a prized object within the important collection of ivory furniture which Hastings assembled during his lifetime. Located on the northern Coromandel Coast of southeast India, Vizagapatam, not far from Madras, boasted ready access to teak, ebony and rosewood from the surrounding Northern Cicars region. As a trading port, it could also provide its craftsmen with ivory from Pegu, padouk from the Andaman Islands and sandalwood from the South, making possible the production of some of the most remarkable furniture of the 18th century.