A Rare Newcomb College Brass Bound and Inlaid Rosewood Desk Box, c. 1886-1887, the lid centering two young girls surrounded by rose vines within a triangle formed by stylized floral bands, the front corners and sides inlaid with scrolls, stylized floral pierced hasp, trapezoidal case on four cylindrical feet, height 1.25in. width 5.25in length 7.5in. E5000-7000 Note: In 1886, Ellsworth Woodward organized the Tulane Decorative Art League for Women. The league offered classes in art pottery, woodcarving, fresco and art needlework. It was in these classes that the women artists skillfully created brass inlaid wooden boxes. In the prevailing Arts and Crafts manner, this exceptional wooden box depicts two young girls walking with baskets in hand through a rose garden. It was during this time period that the Woodward Brothers, with the financial backing of Josephine Louise Newcomb, established the Newcomb College of Art. Ref: Jessie Poesch, Newcomb Pottery, An Enterprise for Southern Women, 1895-1940, Schiffer Publishing Co., 1984.