The 12 pieces were commissioned by Lord Bathurst, one of the earliest and most important patrons of the Cotswold movement, for Pinbury Park, near the village of Sapperton in Gloucestershire. They had remained in continuous use by the family, now resident in Dorset, for over a century.
Two lots by Ernest Gimson sold to the same anonymous buyer at £31,000 (plus 19.5 per cent premium) each - a macassar ebony library table chequer-banded in satinwood and walnut (estimate £8000-15,000) and this superb 12in (30cm) wide stationery box, also in ebony inlaid with mother-of-pearl and abalone with flowers and animals (estimate £5000-10,000).
Original designs for both pieces, dated 1904, survive in the Cheltenham Museum and Art Gallery.
When Law Fine Art sold the Andrew Keith collection in April 2005, a similar Gimson casket with geometric rather than pictorial decoration sold at £16,000.
