VICTORIAN INLAID PRESENTATION LAP DESK: Top and banded front inlaid with an assortment of woods, abalone and bone. Top with center presentation ''Presented to Joseph Green by the employees of Messrs P. Joynson & Co. as a token of esteem, Nov. 16th, 1887''. Inside with embossed leather writing surface, compartments and ink bottles. Overall measures 7'' h. x 16 1/2'' x 11 1/2''. Joseph Green, a prominent businessman in Manchester England, managed Messrs P. Joynson, Cotton Mills in the late 19th / early 20th century and at the onset of WW1 was relocated to Columbia to establish textile trade in Latin America. Family lore has it that he then became involved in the emerald trade and immediately upon his death his widow opened the desk only to find it devoid of any of the coveted Columbian jewels. Included in the ephemera are pictures of Joseph Green hunting and on horseback along with a bit of history regarding the desk itself.
CONDITION: In need of restoration and conservation. Sold as-is.