Any Wood Experts Here? Another Wooden Box Id Needed

I love antique boxes. Generally I collect antique glass boxes like Baccarat and Moser ones, but recently started adding some wooden ones to my collection. Hopefully I will become knowledgeable soon and learn a few things from you guys so I don't make the same mistake I made recently.

Back in June I posted a thread on what I thought was an antique wooden sarcophagus shaped box here for id and found out my box wasn't even old and was a newer Bombay Store type contemporary one. That was a purchase I am still kicking myself over, .

I took another chance and purchased another wooden box on ebay and am afraid it might not be Victorian and another dumb purchase. I hope not, lol. When it came it was filthy. I used pledge furniture polish and shined it up. The grime that came off of it was so gross.

If it is not old, no big deal because I paid under $25 bucks for it with shipping included so it won't be an expensive lesson.

I am way too lazy to post pictures here, so if any of you want to take a few minutes to take a look at a video I posted on my small Youtube antiques channel, that would be great. My video is boring and stupid by the way, . I figured you guys could see it better in a video than in pictures any way.

My question is:

Precisely how old is it?

What kind of box is it? (jewelry, glove box, trinket box, tea box, etc)

What kind of woods were used to make it? I think a few different woods were used. I could be wrong though.

What is the style of the design? Ex: Victorian, Edwardian, Art Deco, Regency, Georgian, Colonial, etc.

Thanks in advance for any info you can give me . Please don't make fun of my boring, low budget video, lol. I am definitely not a Youtube content queen, lol. I make videos on youtube to try to get out of my comfort zone and practice speaking to others because I get nervous with public speaking.

Here is the link to see the wood box:


If you guys click on the title of the video, it will take you to youtube and you can make the video full size to see it better.

 

My first thought on type of box is, if not exactly a despatch box, one for keeping correspondence in. Looks about the right size & shape for envelopes. You don't need to lock up gloves & interior not fitted out to take care of jewellery. Some kind of fruit wood is my guess there.

 

..... and at 8:00 in the morning I am way too lazy to follow your link and watch a video.

 

Ditto, at any time of the day.

 

@SYNCHRONCITY You do know that the only way the seller was going to find the key was if you made a new one, don't you?

 

Hi Bronwen,
I have hundreds of keys from 1/2 inch to 5 inches long. I always find a key to work on locks with out keys.
greg

 

@verybrad, since you're not viewing the video, what kind of 'joinery' do you call this....plus it looks like something's 'munching' away inside there!!

 

It's called a blind rabbet joint, and it looks to be from the 20th century, made by a power saw. Nothing about the box speaks much age. Would guess mahogany, but not old cuban mahogany but the lower quality later stuff that is called "mahogany" in name only, but sourced from different trees in asia, africa, south america.

Agree, don't post a video. Five minutes to see moving blurry low-res pictures, and waiting 4 minutes to see a fleeting glimpse of the bottom, isn't worth it. Not trying to be mean, but not the way to show images of a stationary object that we want to see close-ups of - five minutes we won't get back...

 

But Synchro doesn't have your stash & spent time Dremmeling to suit (& taking supercilious abuse), which, by Cosmic Law, means seller would find the key.

 

LOL 100%

 

No problem. Next time I will post pictures. I am so sorry if I bothered any of you or wasted your time. Thanks for that helpful info. You rock!

 

As usual you have given some awesome information! Thanks so much

 

Oh nooo! I didn't see anything munching away in there when I made the video. Going to check the box again now. Ewwww! Lol

 

The wood might be cherry; a nice homemade project.

 

Awesome! Thanks for the info. I liked the feet on the bottom. I wish I could take up a woodworking hobby and make my own boxes. If I did, my boxes would look like little wooden disasters, lol

 

@Jeff Drum, thank you so much, 'rabbeting' was floating thru my head but couldn't come up with what it actually was, so I ASKED!!! How unique!!! Thanks again!!!

SOMEBODY, isn't a little soaking with some Kerosene a good "bug killer".....or wouldn't you do THAT????????

 

AND I love the feet on the bottom!!!!!!

 

Screws in hinges are slotted, not phillips, so has a bit of age to it.

 

Thanks! I love the feet too.

 

Hey Bronwen. Hope you are doing well.

The box is definitely old. How old, I don't know, but the seller found the original key and mailed it to me and I got it today. The seller told me this key was always with this box for all the years he owned it and he had purchased it at an antique shop over 45+ years ago. It works perfectly in the lock so I feel certain it is original.

It looks like it has been around for some time and is very weathered. Here are some pictures of the key below.

I wonder if a precise age can be estimated by this type of key?