A very smart silver plated addition to your office desk designed in the popular Egyptian style.
It has an inscription giving the piece good provenance from the day it was a retirement presentation gift.
It originally dates from 1880.
The Victorians just loved complicated mechanical additions to their lifestyle. This oyster like container was, I thought at first
A Biscuit box: or is it? A muffin holder but later research has shown it to be a biscuit box. How it was used remains a mystery.
All I can tell you is that it is silver plated and was made by Fenton Brothers who patented this curious mechanism for housing the humble biscuit around the year 1880.