Early, Beautifully Detailed Carved Out Slide Lid Box homemade book Age and wear evident: some

Age and wear evident: some craquelure and some paint loss especially along the bottom edge from where I assume it was at one point framed as well as some scattered small chips here

was finished with a hardened varnish or shellac and bears a great rich patina

this is just about a perfect thing

Three of them are carved with crosshatching at the wide end so would have been used as wax seals

Early, Beautifully Detailed Carved Out Slide Lid Box homemade book Age and wear evident: someThis is quite an old box, I believe earlyish 19th c. if not older, and quite a wonderful one I think, carved out from one piece of wood, with a great deal of effort invested in decorative carving on the long sides cross hatching on one and a more complex pattern of chip carving on the other. I love the raised pull end of the slide lid, which looks rather like a pillow at the head of a bed, with a piece of iron stretched over the top looking rather