Large Victorian crab-form brass box

This fine box was produced during the late Victorian period in England- at a time when similarly bizarre objects were hugely popular. Modelled as a crab entirely in brass, it has two eyes to the front acting as handles to open the hinged shell-form cover. Its ten legs are supporting the box and are anatomically accurate: the front two being the pincers, the middle three pairs for walking and the back two are shaped as paddles for swimming.

This fantastically unusual box is both an interesting work of art and also a functional object. The shallow box opening can be used to keep small items such as cards, sweets, chocolates, or even jewellery.