This is a lovely antique brass wall mounting letter rack or rack to keep your daily newspaper in.
I have personally owned this item for many years - and had it hanging in my bedroom - it has two applied hooks which allow you to hang it easily.
My rack is certainly very finely made - and I think probably was made in the workshop of the Scottish artist, Alexander Ritchie in about 1905.
It is unmarked - but this is common on brass pieces coming from his workshop.
The fine repousse work and the little hammered or plenished dots in the background is certainly typical of his work - the very fluid, almost amorphic, curved patterns at each corner is typical of his Celtic designs.
All the details are nice an crisp and the tray has a love golden glow to it - I have not polished it and I think that it must have its original lacquer coating still on it - so you would only need to wipe to keep nice and shiny. It has its original patination and as you can see from my images - it is in very excellent antique condition. My photos seem to have made the metal look rather dull in some images - but rest assured it is nice and shiny as seen in the images with the more gold tone in them.
All the edges have been turned over for strength and this is a sign of quality. It must have taken a very skilled metal worker to create this intricate and unusual shape as well as all the repousse Celtic knotwork decoration on the front section and also to the back of the panel. It is certainly a lovely piece and also a most unusual one.
A great item today perhaps not to keep your newspapers nice and safe - but perhaps to hang on your wall to keep a ream of a4 sized computer paper in?
Dimensions: overall height is just over 11 inches. The width is also about 11 inches and the depth is 3 1/4 inches.
Fair price for this antique handmade piece of Scottish Metalwork - and such an unusual one. Interestingly - it has the same pattern on it as my miniature tray which I also have on offer in my shop - both have hung together on my wall for the last 20 years.
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