Dedham box front

[a post I wrote a week or more ago. Still only part-time in the shop, but getting closer to regular schedule. This one looks at the preparation for an upcoming carved box. Also, a reminder for paid subscribers there’s a discount on the 4 video series I’ve done through vimeo on demand…if there’s any wrinkles with that, email me and we’ll sort it out. Thanks as always, PF PeterFollansbee7@gmail.com ]

My next project (yes, I started it before the last project is done) is a carved box with a lock based on the works from Dedham, Massachusetts.  This group of work is one I recently spent some time re-exploring. Last summer I made a video series showing how I carve a few different versions of these patterns.

box front begun

I know of five boxes from this shop, two of which are “whereabouts unknown” so we’ve only seen those in photos. The others I’ve seen, some in detail. Two of the boxes feature carved fronts composed of two chest panels running end-to-end instead of vertically. That’s the sort of thing I’m doing for this customer. Here’s a straight-on view of the box at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY - its overall height is 9 1/2” (including the lid & base) and the overall width of the case is 24.”

The customer had some limitations on the overall width of the box - which is determined by the length of the box front, she wanted it knocked down to 22” so I spent some time working out the spacing on paper first. My board’s height - well, width of the board, which becomes height of the box - was 7 3/4” so my carvings will be slightly different proportions from the originals. But based on the variety in the chest panels, this is not a problem.

One thing about the boxes I have seen - they’re just butted & nailed together, no rabbet joints like most New England boxes I know. No till, never had one. Here’s the one at Yale:

Dedham box at Yale University Art Gallery