The workboxes, so rich in gilding and relief, came from Italy, when, as early as the year 1400, caskets were covered with a species of lime which was moulded, the gesso, as it was called, on a gilt ground of white compo, giving it a very rich effect. Leather was used with good effect, too, for the ornamentation of workboxes, red morocco being much favoured in England early in the nineteenth century. Fig. [76] illustrates three very beautiful little fitted boxes with inlaid ornament and straw work.
Little Accessories.
The contents of an old workbox are many and varied. Among the odds and ends it is no uncommon thing to find relics of lace-making, by which so many cottagers have been able to maintain themselves for generations.
FIG. 73.—SPINNING WHEEL.
(In the Hull Museum.)
FIG. 74.—OLD LACE BOBBINS.
(a, b, c, d, e, and f, reading from left to right.)