The box

A new family heirloom has arrived.
My birthdaypresent was a 200 hundred years old box .
Made by a prisoner of war during the Napoleontic war .
A time often referred to in this blog .
And also the start of  Jerome Nicholas Vlieland's saga.
Trying to find out more about this 40 cm long box turns out to be difficult .
Many were made  and all were different.
The prisoners made them and then sold them to earn some money .
This way the prisoners  were kept occupied and could afford some extra food.
The straw they used was from the beds .
Mostley they used a pattern of a building near their prison.
The building on this box is not recognized so far .
Dutch prisoners of war were kept in Chatham in moored  boats or in Norman Cross,but the building on the front does not indicate those places .

front

 backside

building on the front of the box

Peterborough and straw Marquetterie