A modest dressing case by the Moseley family

I said I’d write more about this later and then got waylaid by the process of buying a new car. (It is unexciting — my penchant for antiques is paired inexplicably with technophilia and absurd pragmatism — I got a plug-in hybrid)

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This is what counts as a modest dressing kit for its period (1847ish).

Fancier ones would come with fancier razors and a lot more bottles and tools. This one seems to have been geared to someone who did more writing type things as it has a dedicated pouch for letters:

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And the one hallmarked piece of silver is a combo mechanical pencil and dip pen:

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Under the bloodstone cap is a chamber to hold seven pieces of lead:

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You extrude the lead by twisting the very end of the mechanism:

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Changing lead is a bit fidgety, but it all works. Pull on the end to detach the pencil, turn it around and you’ve got a pen:

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The hallmark:

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That reads: Mosley London {mark denoting sterling silver — a particular type of heraldic lion} {mark denoting it was made in London — a crowned leopard head} {The date code indicating it was made in 1847} {The duty mark for Queen Victoria} and {the maker’s mark, RM for Richard Mosley (or thereabouts)}.

So while that sort of, kind of indicates this could possibly have been a set by the Mosley family, it isn’t a slam dunk. Items like pencils and whatnot were regularly bundled into boxes made by jewelers and clothiers and all sorts of other resellers. In this particular case we have one more extremely useful clue I found entirely by accident.

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Due to the way it’s constructed with Morocco leather glued onto the back of the glass and also used as a hinge for the stand, wear has caused the backing to come loose.

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And there, behind the glass acting as a buffer between the dye of the leather and the silvering of the glass is a piece of paper and a remarkable find.

It’s a page from a Mosley family business ledger from the 1820’s, and it’s sadly not possible to fully make out what it says without tearing the mirror apart, which I’m not going to do. Plus it looks like portions were cut off to make it fit.

There were a zillion Mosley’s spread across Sheffield, Birmingham, and London.

(Continued in next post because MORE PICTURES)

If you’re at all familiar with my posts here, you’ve probably seen me saying it’s essentially impossible to identify the manufacturer of an article like these razors:

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And normally it is.

Except the Mosley family had married into the Hobson family and ... Well... ‘Synergized’. (Read, got cheap unbranded goods from). There is an extraordinarily in-depth run down to be found here.

Oh, the other clue was that the set came with an original packet of replacement lead:

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Each tiny piece of lead is individually stored in an incredibly tiny glass tube. I haven’t tried measuring it yet, but it looks to be about the same as 0.5mm.

And yes, that is a packet of lead from the late 1840’s.

Elsewhere in the case:

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An ornately carved Mother-of-Pearl letter opener.

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A compact corkscrew.

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A silver-plated travel brush.

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Various cut-crystal bottles and a pair of compact boot-pull multitools, one with a (broken) buttonhook and one with a somewhat mysterious little punch that’s apparently to help with lacing.

I didn’t get pictures, but there’s also a packet of push-pins and a small pincushion.

Missing from the case appear to be several larger brushes and perhaps a travel-strop/hone combo.

Some of the compartments are lined with silver foil, others with velvet.

And there you have it. A modest dressing kit with a bonus find that explicates a little of its history!

Well found Zak! I saw a couple of 1830s-40s dressing cases at an antique fair on the weekend; alas no razors. I'll keep looking.