Mauchline Ware are wooden souvenirs manufactured in Scotland, primarily in factories in or near Mauchline and predominantly made of sycamore. The items have various finishes in a large variety of applications. Most Mauchline Ware products have transfers or photographs of popular tourist locations. There were also finishes with tartan, fern and black lacquer.
On offer here is a beautiful honey-toned wooden string ball or box - it would have been a sweet little Victorian souvenir that you would have purchased on your travels in Scotland. This one is more unusual as it has three little ball feet on the base.
This is a beautiful example of a special box for storing string for the Victorian lady to dispense parcel packing materials. It is made of a rich honey-coloured wood and is in nice clean condition. The box has a decorative hole area on the top of the ball - this is where your string would be dispensed from. There are also two other holes where you might hang a wee ribbon to hang up the ball. They ribbon is a replacement one.
The box features images relating to the Scottish poet, Robert Burns. We have little crisp printed vignettes showing the Cottage where Burns was born, the Burns Monument, and Alloway Kirk. There is also a little bit of text giving the provenance of the wood used to make this item: Warranted Made of Wood which grew within the railing at the Burns Monument.
The box is in good antique condition with clear images all around. It is clean inside and out - and with a rich antique patina to the wood outside. The wood is very shiny as you can see in my photographs. The lid lifts off. There are no cracks or losses to the wood or the images.
Measurements: The diameter of the ball is just over 4 inches. I have listed it at a fair price, given the popular subject matter and its condition. The string boxes are slightly harder to find. I have taken lots of images for your inspection.
We will post to you with Royal Mail Recorded postage - this will be applied to your order at the checkout.
HISTORY: Mauchline Wares are Scottish wooden items which date from about the 1880s - until the 1900s. They are generally wooden souvenirs and giftware - made of fruitwood and decorated with black transfer designs. The scenes are usually of landmarks and popular towns - and spots favoured by tourists. They were very popular in their day and many pieces were exported globally.
The centre of the Mauchline Ware industry is the small village of Mauchline - which is located 11 miles inland from the Scottish coastal resort of Ayr. At its peak over 400 people were involved in the manufacture of these small (but always beautifully made) wooden souvenirs. Similar products were also made in Lanark - but most of the pieces are known by the generic name of Mauchline Ware.