This gorgeous and rare watercolour box by the great Winsor and Newton of London is one of the best preserved boxes of this type that I’ve seen. It is as it’s lovely label proclaims by Royal Letters Patent. 
This of course refers to the Royal Warrant granted to the makers in 1841 and of course helps to date the box. 
The Ceramic pan was first introduced into the artistic world in the 1840s very probably by Winsor and Newton. Certainly they were offering them to the public at this time. They were offered then as now as half and full pans. 
Their great innovation was that the paint within these beautifully made ceramic cells could be truly moist as the pan being hard and protective providing excellent protection. 
Soft moist paint is without a doubt easier to work with than the harder paint cake in block form then still very popular. Indeed these cakes were still being made and used decades after the introduction of these pans. 
In my opinion there were two reasons for this. Firstly the paint buying public the artists themselves were then as now quite conservative and were slow to adopt recent innovations and secondly these pans were more expensive. 
It comes as little surprise to understand why they were so expensive. 
First the pans had to be made of a consistent size and this meant the making of standardised molds. 
The pans then after being made were fired. The pans then had to be filled still using the expensive pigments from all over the world that were used in the cakes. It is likely that more actual pigment had to be used if a better paint was to be made and if the paint was intended to be better that meant less filler used in it’s making. Pigment is always more expensive than fillers which then were likely to be chalk and possibly clay. 
The paint also required something to keep it actually more moist. Glycerin invented in the last quarter of the 18th century worked well but was not as common as it is in our modern world and so likely to be expensive. It is true that Honey could be used as it is today. Whether or not it was used I’m not sure as it’s doesn’t seem or sound like something found in a technical advance. It could easily have been present but kept quiet of course and in lesser makers it may have been a cheaper option. More analytical work needs to be performed before any meaningful decision can be made. 
However once the pan was filled it was usually covered by a small piece of silk on top and then wrapped in foil. The makers name and the colour of the contents could then be printed onto the final wrapper. These needed to be wrapped well as by there nature they were stickier and so would hold dirt and they would to a degree dry out. So lots of procedures to produce one pan. No wonder they weren’t cheap. 
It should be pointed out that this was not the first time that an attempt to make a moist paint was undertaken. The great Mr Reeves in the 18th century had included an additive, most likely Glycerin into his paint cakes and it was truly a great innovation. The paints previously made were super hard. Useable but perhaps not ever so suitable for the smaller hands of the very many young ladies where watercolour painting was a part of there education. 
These metal boxes were the perfect vehicle to hold and distribute these new pans and Winsor and Newton ever vigilant endlessly creative and really ambitious we’re on the cutting edge of this new world which today we are it’s inheritors. It is estimated that many millions of these metal boxes mostly in black were made all through the the Victorian period. 
This particular box as beautiful as it is was one of those very early models and as I’ve said this is one of the finest I’ve seen. I’m only selling this one as I purchased one recently. 
The outer paint on this one is extremely good considering it’s great age of around 180 years! Most of the very few encountered have suffered greatly but not this one. It should be pointed out that the paint here is original and has not been repainted. 
Internally the paint is also very nice although shows some wear which really is no surprise as one might say that this is where the magic happens! 
Considering the vast amount of time that has past we might be forgiven for thinking that the heart of this box is a veritable box of spells where many mixtures or spells of colour have been made. 
That said the inside of this box is still very serviceable and in good condition. It is in no way rotted out as can sometimes happen. 
The box opens and closes very well with good strong hinges. 
In truth this box is as solid and as useful as the day it was made and if looked after will last another hundred years with ease and do it very elegantly. 
Also inside we find a set of contemporary ceramic pans made and stamped underneath by the makers. 
Once the paint here is used up these pans of course can easily be washed out and reused by filling them with with whatever brand of paint and colours you prefer. 
If I could think of anything negative to say about this box I would consider it a duty to be honest but in my opinion this is a lovely and wonderful box of colours by a very famous maker that is steeped in an important history in the world of art. It is also brimmed full of potential.