{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1803037"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1803037/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PJ5189/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PJ5189/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2025PJ5189","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PJ5125","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PJ5177","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PJ5186","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PJ5194","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PJ5187","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PJ5190","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PJ5191","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PJ5193","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PJ5134","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PJ5133","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PJ5132","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PJ5131","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PJ5130","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PJ5129","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PJ5128","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PJ5127","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PJ5126","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PJ5184","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PJ5185","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PJ5188","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PJ5183","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PJ5195","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PJ5196","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PJ5192","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PJ5182","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O1803037/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1803037","accessionNumber":"W.5-2025","objectType":"Box","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Ralph Turnbull (1788–1865), to whose workshop this box is attributed, was one of the most prominent cabinetmakers operating in Jamaica in the first half of the nineteenth century, forging a unique style that combined fashionable European forms with the array of tropical woods available in his adopted country.\r\n\r\nPresumably of Scottish birth – he practiced as a Scottish Methodist – Ralph Turnbull arrived in the Jamaican capital Kingston in about 1815. In the early 1820s he may have worked with his brothers, Thomas and Cuthbert. By 1823 they were all running independent businesses, although Thomas was employed in 1839 as manager of Ralph’s workshop. Turnbull’s workshop was located on the corner of East Harbour and Port Royal Street, opposite the Jamaica Bank and close to the Steam Navigation Wharf. His premises were probably destroyed when fire devastated that part of the city in 1843 and appear to have been subsequently rebuilt. Ralph’s two sons joined his business, and although both died in 1844, the company continued trading as Ralph Turnbull &amp; Son until 1852, when Turnbull entered a partnership with his son-in-law William Lee.\r\n\r\nFollowing the Slavery Abolition Act passed by the British Government in 1833, Turnbull did not claim compensation for enslaved workers in his business, nor is he recorded as having owned any (in contrast, he is recorded as having one enslaved domestic worker). After 1833 a system of apprenticeship was established, whereby those who had been enslaved were required to continue working for their former captors for a period of four to six years in exchange for provisions. According to Dr John Cross, a specialist in Jamaican furniture, ‘Ralph Turnbull was unique in applying for funds from the House of Assembly (Jamaica’s Parliament) at the time of emancipation in 1836, to fund sixty apprentices who were [formerly enslaved].’ \r\n\r\nTurnbull’s reputation grew sufficiently to attract influential patrons: in April 1834 the newly appointed British Governor General of Jamaica, Howe Peter Browne, 2nd Marquess of Sligo (1788–1845), visited his workshop and ordered a games table which, on his departure from the island in 1836, he had shipped back to his estate in Westport, Co. Mayo, Ireland. In November 1834 Turnbull, emboldened by this episode and apparently keen to capitalise on it, petitioned the Jamaican House of Assembly ‘setting forth the good he had done in bringing the various woods in this island into the repute in the mother country, and praying the aid of the house’. His efforts were repaid in December 1834 when he received, as ‘a mark of the favourable consideration house’, a grant of £100. \r\n\r\nUnlike his brothers, Ralph Turnbull often labelled his work, and his workshop can therefore be firmly associated with a group of objects, including boxes, games tables, tables and a sideboard; the firm also advertised upholstered furniture (although none has been identified), cabinets, writing desks, picture frames, dressing cases and tea caddies. To date, the most important object to come from his workshop is the table, possibly made for display at the Great Exhibition in 1851, which was acquired by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 2019.\r\n\r\nTurnbull was naturally interested in the timbers used in his workshop and was evidently keen to expand his repertoire: in an advertisement in 1836 he stated that a botanist was available if anyone could send ‘any new or unnamed specimens of wood, the leaf, flower, and fruit of the tree, as he has now an excellent opportunity (by the assistance of a scientific Gentlemen) of ascertaining its real botanical name’. With some of his finished pieces he supplied an illustrated key identifying the veneers, which he wrote himself and, on at least one occasion, signed.\r\n\r\nThis box is attributed to the workshop of Ralph Turnbull on the strength of its similarity to two almost identical boxes bearing his printed label, the first sold Christie’s, London, 26th October 2010, lot 124, the second sold by John Howkins Antiques, Norfolk. A third box of almost identical appearance and dimensions, sold by Lennox Cato Antiques, Edenbridge, is accompanied by a key signed by another maker, James Pitkin. The brothers William and James Pitkin were Ralph Turnbull’s competitors, but the families were also connected: William Pitkin’s daughter Mary married Cuthbert Turnbull’s son John. The similarity between boxes made by Ralph Turnbull and James Pitkin suggests that business as well as personal ties existed between the Turnbull and Pitkin families. All the boxes hitherto described have a geometric ‘Louis cube’ pattern on their hinged lid, framed in a narrow inner and wider outer veneered border; the same pattern was used to decorate parts of the MFA Boston table mentioned above.\r\n\r\nIf one accepts the attribution of the V&amp;A box as an unlabelled example emanating from Turnbull’s workshop, then it has the added attraction, not found in the other Turnbull boxes discussed, in having nine specimen woods used on the pull-out tray. Dr Adam Bowett, whose published works include <i>Woods in British Furniture-Making, 1400–1900; An Illustrated Historical Dictionary</i> (Wetherby, 2012), has confirmed the common names and botanical names of the inscriptions (in bold below). These are listed from the top row, left to right:\r\n\n<b>Juniper Ceader </b>(Juniper, cedar) <i>Juniperus barbadensis</i> L.\r\n<b>Cashaw</b> (Cashew) <i>Anacardium occidentale</i> L.\n<b>Yellow Sanders</b> (Satinwood) <i>Zanthoxylum flavum </i>Vahl.\r\n<b>Jamaica Mahogany</b> (Mahogany) <i>Swietenia mahagoni</i> (L.) Jacq.\n<b>Ebony</b> (Cocus wood) <i>Brya ebenus</i> (L.) DC   \n<b>Braziletta</b> (Braziletto) <i>Guilandina spp.</i>\r\n<b>Grey Sanders</b> (?) <i>Terminalia tetraphylla</i> (Aubl.) Gere &amp; Boatwr.\n<b><b>Mahoe</b> </b>(Hibiscus) <i>Talipariti tiliaceum</i> (L.) Fryxell\n<b>Yacca</b> (Yacca) <i>Podocarpus purdieans </i>Hook.\n","physicalDescription":"Specimen wood box, attributed to the workshop of Ralph Turnbull, Kingston, Jamaica, about 1840","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Turnbull, Ralph","id":"AUTH410220"},"association":{"text":"Maker","id":"x40240"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"","id":""},{"text":"cocus wood","id":"x43389"},{"text":"mahoe","id":"AAT12493"},{"text":"Juniper","id":"AAT12594"},{"text":"Mahogany","id":"AAT12221"},{"text":"Satinwood","id":"AAT12451"},{"text":"","id":"AAT12451"},{"text":"","id":""},{"text":"","id":""},{"text":"","id":""},{"text":"","id":""}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"Global Africa","id":"THES413895"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"FWK","id":"THES48597"},"images":["2025PJ5189","2025PJ5125","2025PJ5177","2025PJ5186","2025PJ5194","2025PJ5187","2025PJ5190","2025PJ5191","2025PJ5193","2025PJ5134","2025PJ5133","2025PJ5132","2025PJ5131","2025PJ5130","2025PJ5129","2025PJ5128","2025PJ5127","2025PJ5126","2025PJ5184","2025PJ5185","2025PJ5188","2025PJ5183","2025PJ5195","2025PJ5196","2025PJ5192","2025PJ5182"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"133","id":"THES49881"},"free":"","case":"BY7","shelf":"CASE2","box":""},{"current":{"text":"133","id":"THES49881"},"free":"","case":"BY7","shelf":"CASE2","box":""},{"current":{"text":"133","id":"THES49881"},"free":"","case":"BY7","shelf":"CASE2","box":""},{"current":{"text":"133","id":"THES49881"},"free":"","case":"BY7","shelf":"CASE2","box":""},{"current":{"text":"133","id":"THES49881"},"free":"","case":"BY7","shelf":"CASE2","box":""},{"current":{"text":"133","id":"THES49881"},"free":"","case":"BY7","shelf":"CASE2","box":""},{"current":{"text":"133","id":"THES49881"},"free":"","case":"BY7","shelf":"CASE2","box":""},{"current":{"text":"133","id":"THES49881"},"free":"","case":"BY7","shelf":"CASE2","box":""},{"current":{"text":"133","id":"THES49881"},"free":"","case":"BY7","shelf":"CASE2","box":""},{"current":{"text":"133","id":"THES49881"},"free":"","case":"BY7","shelf":"CASE2","box":""},{"current":{"text":"133","id":"THES49881"},"free":"","case":"BY7","shelf":"CASE2","box":""},{"current":{"text":"FWK3","id":"THES49462"},"free":"","case":"KEYS","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Box (container)","id":"AAT45643"}],[{"text":"Tray","id":"AAT43071"}],[{"text":"Lid","id":"AAT45712"}],[{"text":"box","id":"x44081"}],[{"text":"Lid","id":"AAT45712"}],[{"text":"box","id":"x44081"}],[{"text":"Lid","id":"AAT45712"}],[{"text":"box","id":"x44081"}],[{"text":"Lid","id":"AAT45712"}],[{"text":"box","id":"x44081"}],[{"text":"Lid","id":"AAT45712"}],[{"text":"box","id":"x44081"}],[{"text":"Lid","id":"AAT45712"}],[{"text":"box","id":"x44081"}],[{"text":"Lid","id":"AAT45712"}],[{"text":"box","id":"x44081"}],[{"text":"Lid","id":"AAT45712"}],[{"text":"box","id":"x44081"}],[{"text":"Lid","id":"AAT45712"}],[{"text":"box","id":"x44081"}],[{"text":"Key","id":"x39253"}],[{"text":"box","id":"x44081"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Kingston (Jamaica)","id":"THES408382"},"association":{"text":"Made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1830-1840","earliest":"1830-01-01","latest":"1840-12-31"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"13.1","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"20/11/2025","earliest":"2025-11-20","latest":"2025-11-20"},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"33.3","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"20/11/2025","earliest":"2025-11-20","latest":"2025-11-20"},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"27","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"20/11/2025","earliest":"2025-11-20","latest":"2025-11-20"},"part":"","note":"The tray, empty, measures H. 3.4 x W. 30.5 x D. 24.1 cm; each lid measures H. 1.2 (approx) x W. 9.7 x D. 7.5 cm."},{"dimension":"","value":"","unit":"","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"","value":"","unit":"","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Measured from object by Max Donnelly","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Specimen wood box, attributed to the workshop of Ralph Turnbull, Kingston, Jamaica, about 1840","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"<b>(17/03/2026)</b>\nBox \r\n\r\nAbout 1840 \r\nRalph Turnbull & Son (attributed manufacturer)\r\n(active about 1815–65)\r\n\r\nJamaica (Kingston)\r\n\r\nJamaican specimen woods, solid and veneered, bone\r\n\r\nMuseum no. W.5-2025\r\n\r\n\r\nThe striking geometric veneers on the lid of this box have been skilfully arranged to show off the rich contrasting colours and variety of surface patterns of Caribbean hardwoods. By the time this box was made, the Turnbulls’ Jamaican workshop employed 60 formerly enslaved ‘apprentices’. It embodies the material knowledge, skills and artistry of craftspeople whose names are now lost.","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null}}],"partNumbers":["W.5:1-2025","W.5:2-2025","W.5:3-2025","W.5:4-2025","W.5:5-2025","W.5:6-2025","W.5:7-2025","W.5:8-2025","W.5:9-2025","W.5:10-2025","W.5:11-2025","W.5:12-2025"],"accessionNumberNum":"5","accessionNumberPrefix":"W","accessionYear":2025,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-03-17","recordCreationDate":"2025-04-14","availableToBook":false}}