Title: Mahogany writing slope

Height 15 cm, length 45.5 cm, width 24.5 cm
Date: 1785
Provenance: Wm. Cowper; purchased Bonhams 2006.
Museum No: OLNCN.3943

A George III fiddle mahogany writing box of rectangular form banded in fruitwood, the lid with an oval paterae. The box appears in Abbott's portrait of Cowper with his translation of Homer upon it.

The form of the 'desk box' or writing slope had been arrived at in medieval times, taking the form of a sloping box (much like the 17th century 'Bible box') and was designed for writing and reading.

Traditionally the writing slope would be placed on a table, but by the second half of the 17th century it was often made with a stand.