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This impressive antique jewellery box in Calamander was originally gifted to Grace Bernal Osborne upon her marriage to William Beauclerk, 10th Duke of St. Albans, on 3rd January 1874 in County Tipperary, Ireland. She was thereafter referred to as Grace, Duchess of St. Albans. The centrally engraved monogram, placed beneath a ducal coronet, denotes a ‘G.St.A’.

The interior is lined with green velvet and matching moiré silk. The front flap of the box drops forward to allow the two top trays, each with four partitioned compartments and a ring channel, to swing out at right angles to the box. A large velvet-lined compartment on the lower level becomes accessible.

Pressing down on a brass plate, to the rear rim of the box, releases a spring-loaded drawer below.

The Bramah lock is fully working and comes with its original key.

Width: 33.2cm/ 13″ Inches
Depth: 24.4cm/ 9.5″ Inches
Height: 24.2cm/ 9.5″ Inches

Provenance:
Born on 26 July 1848, Grace Osborne was the second daughter of the Liberal politician Sir Ralph Bernal Osborne and his wife Catherine, descendant of a landed Anglo-Irish family.
On 3 January 1874, Grace became the second wife of William Beauclerk, 10th Duke of St Albans, who had succeeded to his father’s titles and estates at the age of nine. Their marriage produced six children:

Osbourne de Vere Beauclerk, 12th Duke of Saint Albans (16 Oct 1874 – 2 Mar 1964)
Lady Moyra de Vere Beauclerk (20 Jan 1876 – 7 Feb 1942)
Lady Katherine de Vere Beauclerk (25 May 1877 – 1 Feb 1958)
Lady Alexandra de Vere Beauclerk (5 Jul 1878 – 16 Apr 1935)
Lord William Huddlestone de Vere Beauclerk (16 Aug 1883 – 25 Dec 1954)

The family appear on the 1881 census living at 33 Belgrave Square in London. Also present on the night of the census were a governess, two nurses and fifteen servants, including a butler, two footmen, a valet and a hall boy.

By the 1891 census, the duke and two of his sons were at Bestwood Lodge in Nottinghamshire, whilst Grace was with the couple’s four other children in London at 13 Grosvenor Crescent, Knightsbridge.

The Duke died in 1898, whilst Grace died on 18 November 1926, five days after suffering a stroke, at 49 Cadogan Gardens, Chelsea. She left an estate valued at £16,166 (£862,000 in today’s money).

Ref: DL476