A Victorian Dark Brown Leather Jewellery Box, originally the property of the wife of R.V. Berkeley* of Spetchley Park, the lid with a folding brass handle, with the engraving:
Mrs R.V Berkeley
Spetchley Park
Nr. Worcester
The interior with its original purple silk lining, stamped with the maker's name on the lining of the lid:
The Royal Crown above
Parkes
12 Vigo Street
Regent Street
W.
The Chubb four Lever Detector lock is in good working order with a Chubb replacement key
* Spetchley Park.
The Spetchley estate was purchased by Rowland Berkeley, a wealthy wool merchant and banker, in 1606, and has been in the family ever since. Sir Robert Berkeley (d 1656), who inherited the estate in 1611, received licence in 1625 to impark at Spetchley. The house was burnt in the aftermath of the Battle of Worcester in 1651. In 1683 the diarist John Evelyn noted that the owner Sir Robert Berkeley was 'most ingenious, virtuous and religious ... and very curious in gardening.' A major phase of alterations began at Spetchley following Robert Berkeley's succession in 1804, with the house being rebuilt from 1811 and the surrounding landscape reordered. The gardens owe much of their detailed form in the late C20 to the activities of Rose Willmott, who married Robert Valentine Berkeley of Spetchley in 1891 and who lived here until her death in 1922. Her younger sister, Ellen Willmott (d 1934), one of the most famous gardeners of her time, also had a considerable input. After Rose's death, responsibility for the garden passed to Capt R G W Berkeley, who added considerably to the plant collections.
Weight 1.65 kg
Dimensions 32 x 23.5 x 13 cms
