Knife boxes would only have existed in the upper echelons of society in late 18th and early 19th centuries. There were two forms of knife or cutlery boxes made to designs by Adam, Hepplewhite, Sheraton and others. The more common form is a sloping mahogany box, serpentine shaped in front, with divisions for holding cutlery. The lid was generally inlaid with a star on the inside, but a cockleshell inlay on the outer surface will be a Victorian addition. The urn-shaped box with a lift up lid is much rarer. The urns were usually made to stand one on each end of a pedestal sideboard. Some knife boxes have had the divisions for knives removed, and been converted into stationery boxes.
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