Another one of my writing-box restoration projects, I picked this up at a local flea-market and brought it home with me. I cleaned it up and then went about restoring the main hinge between the upper and lower halves of the writing slope.

It’s a beautiful box, but unfortunately, taping it down with black tape and sewing it together is the only way to prevent complete destruction. The manner of their construction makes any other type of repair nigh impossible on these boxes.

Here’s some still shots I took of the same box:

Up above, you can just see the black electrical-tape reinforcement to the hinge. It’s a passable solution to a finicky problem.

Here’s a closeup shot of the engraving at the top of the box:

I haven’t been able to find out anything about who S. Neaverson was, or what he did that caused him to buy a box in 1886 (which I take to be the purchase-date), but he certainly seemed to have fine taste in writing accessories!