When I ask myself what is the most unusual / precious / valuable item in my collection (these terms are not synonymous of course), one of the candidates which has to be in the frame is the above. It comes from Tom the taciturn, and was more or less a shattered hulk when I first set eyes on it. Anyhow, Ton convinced me that he knew a wood turner who could reproduce the turned pieces missing in the sides, put in a floor and of course take the thing apart and put it back together, as would be necessary to achieve a repair. He did not deign to actually put me in contact with said wizard, but acted as go-between. A price was negociated and the work done - and very well done. 99% of the original mother-of-pearl inlay is still intact, which is definitely a result where this kind of piece is concerned.

I don’t know what the market value of this piece with all the recent work now is, but I’ve never seen anything even slightly like it, which is always a good sign. In any case, I have no intention of parting with it - I now consider it to have achieved the hallowed status of family heirloom. Tom, who does deal in this kind of piece to some extent, assures me that it’s as early as mid 19th century because the inlaying is fairly crude, and in the later examples it got more sophisticated. Anyhow, like the Indian hanging I got from him (also a bit knackered - and held together with tape - by the way), I regard this as a real treasure.

I like to indulge my fantasy of this having been lugged around the sands of Arabia or suchlike on the back of a camel, though the fantasy of it having belonging to Bedouin tribesmen is probably just that - a fantasy.

Anyhow, enjoy!