Chests, boxes and cabinets

Lightweight six-board chest of Mary Rose Type 2.1 construction, suitable for use from the 13th to 17th centuries. Made from select grade radiata pine, with nailed construction using hand-headed nails. Nail placement has been informed by Type 2.1 chest 81A1302. Finished with paint tinted to match the iron oxide-rich limewash that had to be applied annually to the originals. The butterfly hinges have been taken from a Type 2.2 chest, 80A1217, and have been heat blued to protect from rusting.

I’ve made this chest long enough to fit 32” arrows; it’s strong enough for most re-enactment equipment but probably not long weapons and armour. External dimensions 860mm (l) x 235mm (w) x 255mm (h). I’m been using mine to hold toools at re-enactment events for the past 15 years, it currently is used to store wooden planes.

Reference: Gardiner, J. [Editor]. (2003). Before the Mast: Life and Death Aboard the Mary Rose. United Kingdom, Portsmouth: Mary Rose Trust.

Hildred, A. [Editor]. (2011). Weapons of Warre – The Armament of the Mary Rose. United Kingdom, Portsmouth: Mary Rose Trust.

Simple nailed six-board box with loose lid. Lid kept aligned with cleats, I also have cleats inside to align spacers to keep my arrows separated. Morris board carved in the lid. Pine, red iron oxide pigment paint inside and out.

Reference: Gardiner, J. [Editor]. (2003). Before the Mast: Life and Death Aboard the Mary Rose. United Kingdom, Portsmouth: Mary Rose Trust.

This one is my interpretation of an original box by the Savell family of Braintree Masssachusetts, ca 1660. Oak sides, tulip poplar lid and base, Himalayan cedar till. The corners are glued with hide glue and pegged with wooden pins. The bottoms are nailed on with handmade iron nails. I didn’t have time to make the lock that was on the original.

Boxes of this style were produced in England, Cornwall and the colonies from the middle of the the 17th century onwards. The size was often dictated by the available timber sizes, but typically they were 175-200mm high, 560-600mm wide, and about 355mm deep front to back. Those from the American colonies were from riven wood, almost invariably featured tills and often had lids and bases from white pine rather than oak boards. English boxes tended to be entirely from pitsawn oak. Carving styles were highly regional and were maintained across generations in particular families, designs in England typically appeared 50 years earlier than in the Virginian colony.

References: Follansbee, P. (2019). Joiner’s Work. United States, Kentucky: Lost Art Press LLC.

Follansbee, P. (2022, December 26). the Savell/Braintree boxes. Peter Follansbee: Joiners Notes. pfollansbee.wordpress.com/2022/12/26/the-savell-braintree-boxes/

Conjectural small wainscot box in oak. I made the box, lock, hinges, paint and reprofiled the nails. The decoration is based on a mid 17th c pike armour in the Royal Armouries London and another similar in Warwick Castle, red paint is a modern vermillion pigment without the mercury and the black is a carbon black, both ground in linseed oil.

References: Follansbee, P. (2019). Joiner’s Work. United States, Kentucky: Lost Art Press LLC.

Chinnery, V. (1979). Oak Furniture – The British Tradition. United Kingdon, Suffolk, Woodbridge: ACC Art Books.

Robinson, W. (2022, April 22). Another wainscot box. The Reverend’s Musings. leatherworkingreverendsmusings.wordpress.com/2022/04/22/another-wainscot-box/

17th Century wainscot box with pintel hinges

Small wainscot/candle box in oak with oak pegged construction throughout. Wainscot is a thinner grade of oak usually used for panelled wall covering, but was also used for small cabinetry. The strapwork style is inspired by the original Exeter strapwork from Devon. Tudor Roses from Elizabeth I’s coffin (1603), white marigolds from Robert Mindum’s hornwork, particularly the Hinson shoehorn from 1600. Lettering style and proportions from Durer’s Of the Just Shaping of Letters (1535). This example is 250mm wide by 100mm deep.

References: Follansbee, P. (2019). Joiner’s Work. United States, Kentucky: Lost Art Press LLC.

Chinnery, V. (1979). Oak Furniture – The British Tradition. United Kingdon, Suffolk, Woodbridge: ACC Art Books.

Roe, A. (1920). History of Oak Furniture. United Kingdom, London: The Connoisseur.

Robinson, W. (2018, December 23). Another box. The Reverend’s Musings. leatherworkingreverendsmusings.wordpress.com/2018/12/23/another-box/

Fourteenth century salt box based on an original in the Budapest Historical Museum. It was found in the cellar well in a house (Disz Square No. 10) on Buda Castle Hill. The original was undecorated, the compass flower on the front is my addition (horror vacui is a dreadful thing). I use this as a chalk box in the workshop.

Academics now abed in England will be excitedly clamouring to explain the apotropaic mark on the front being a defence against witches. Which is silly, all the witches I know are welcome to use the chalk if they need it. It also comes in handy if I need a 60°, 120°, 180° or 240° reference.

European oak, pegged construction using hide glue, pintle hinges on the lid. 120mm high and deep, 100mm wide.

Construction of this salt is covered in the 14th century volume of our ‘Historical Replica Constructions in Wood and Metal’ series.

Reference: Wyley, S. et al. (2023, December). Historical Replica Construction: 14th Century: Volume 1. Australia, Victoria: Intertype.