This fashionable lady's sewing box was made in 1808 for Elizabeth Giffard of Nerquis Hall, Flintshire, by the furniture maker Gillows of Lancaster. It took cabinetmaker, Francis Dowbiggin, 17 days to make before being lined and varnished by James Woodhouse.

It is inlaid with 72 different types of wood from Australia, Africa, North and South America, Asia and Europe, as listed in the accompanying catalogue. This gives an insight into the global network of trade and imports into Lancashire at the start of the 19th century.

Gillows is closely associated with the development of the port of Lancaster and the wealth from the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and the associated West Indies Trade in the 18th and early 19th centuries. These trade routes made it possible for Lancashire cabinetmakers to purchase Jamaican and Honduran Mahogany and other 'exotic' woods from Lancaster merchants.

Gillows of Lancaster grew into a huge international manufacturer at the height of English furniture design (1750-1800), helping to shape a new fashion for mahogany furniture. The Lancashire company became a household name with showrooms in Lancaster and London.