Boxes of the Mid-West

One of the hazards of working with a material that you have great affection for is the (more than) occasional inability to part with those remnants of particularly distinctive figuring that are too short for immediate use, but just too pretty to consign to the flames.  I live in an area of the States steeped in an early 20th century aesthetic, a milieu of Prairie with Arts & Crafts architecture and decorative arts with Continental and Eastern influences subtly insinuating themselves throughout the warp and weft. An excess of both the material and the culture led me to consider objects that might be usefully expressive of both: Boxes.

Prairie Box 1
A Walnut box with Padauk accents, the earliest of my larger boxes owing a bit of inspiration to the Continent.
Coffer 1
Made of Quartersawed Oak, with Padauk and Walnut accents. I was inspired by a late 19th century bank that I saw in a small town in north-eastern Michigan. Since it was built after a place to keep money, I decided to name it a Coffer rather than a box.
Prairie Box 4
African Mahogany and Walnut wood are used to build this box. I began experimenting with octagonal legs here.
Prairie Box 4 detail
A view of the well with sliding tray inside of the box above.
Prairie Box 3
Another box of African Mahogany which I have found quite suitable for these designs, though only one in ten boards will have the grain figure I like for these pieces.

 

Prairie Box 3 Detail
A detail from the box above. The decorative brackets were inspired by early 20th century Grand Rapids furniture.
Cherry Padauk and Walnut Box
Cherry wood box with Padauk and Lacewood accents. (Lacewood courtesy of Bill McKee, Amherst, WI)
Arts & Crafts Box 1
Curled Maple and African Mahogany were used to create this piece. Maple boards of this quality are about one in fifty (at least where I am looking through them) but the look is worth the work.
Padauk Mahogany and Walnut Box
African Mahogany box with Padauk and Walnut wood accents.
Prairie Box 2
A box entirely made of plain and curly Walnut wood with added architectural accents.
Japan Influenced Box 1
This box is made from African Mahogany and owes its inspiration to that  part of the Prairie School influenced by Japanese architecture.
Walnut and Padauk Box
Primarily Walnut wood with Padauk accents

© 2019 All Content and Box designs: Joseph Hoover. Sticks and Glue. All Rights Reserved.

 

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