Antique "Folk Art" Style Fabric Covered Box

Hi, new here! I have a box which I cannot find anything similar to it anywhere. It is old, definitely 1940 or before I believe. From an estate sale of a gentleman and his wife. He passed in 1952, she before him. They were world travelers, he with a degree in Geology, but studied many different things.. plants, ( book on plants ), archeology, etc. Was at Early Man site before Leaky..They spent time in Mexico, as he also had collection of pre Columbian heads from Teotihuacan area. If box not marked Los Angeles, I might believe it was purchased in Mexico. The wood on this box is crude, I think it was a shipping or storage crate of some kind and as mentioned marked Los Angeles on the bottom. So, I think the wife used it to decorate or it was purchased as is. It appears to be wrapped in hand painted muslin, or muslin was painted after it was applied decoupage style or a lacquer?. Look like copper brackets.. ETc. nice folk art look, gazelles and birds, and again looks Mexican to me. The wife was quite an artist, did her own weavings as well as other things. So, Just looking for any other help or valuation or am I on the wrong track with this box... thank you so much in advance!!

 

Size?

Do you have pictures of the inside & bottom?

 

Forgot to mention: please select full size for the photos instead of the default thumbnail. Thanks!

 

Yes I was just trying to resize some, they were too big.

 

Sorry new here.. Box is about 15" x 9" 8".

 

whoops here is the inside. it is plain but painted. not covered in muslin.

 

If your edit button is still available (it doesn't last forever) you can go back & select post as full size.

 

I think the bottom marked Los Angeles could be part of a freight container. Keep Dry?
Could be a replacement or original, but maybe doesn’t necessarily mean made in LA.

 

Interesting , so you are thinking the box was possibly put together.. rather than being an actual box.
I was thinking it was marked that way because it came through Los Angeles as a shipping box of some sort.

 

Could be your scenario as well. In either case, it could have been decorated anywhere. Maybe @Debora will recognize the design.

 

thank you, I guess I just am wondering if it is a 2 dollar box, a 20 dollar box or... I mean I absolutely can find nothing on painted muslim, fabric covered boxes , lots of wallpaper boxes, or French but nothing like this at all..

 

yea probably keep dry. could not figure that out..

 

ok, so this makes sense.. Looking up vintage wood freight box keep dry AND Los Angeles.. I get a lot of boxes that would fit the bill for what box was used for this item. Some are fruit boxes which also makes sense because this area where we are located was a huge fruit industry... So I really think that may solve the box issue. It is possible that under the fabric there may be writing on the box. At least this leads me to believe that this box was hand worked by the previous owner... I think.. haha

 

That’s generally the folk art way, as I see it. Could be a salvaged box, worked on. See what others think. It’s very cheery and charming, I’ve no idea about value. Not really something I know much about, just adding my observations. Maybe I’ll also tag @verybrad for an opinion.

 

Yes, I was thinking the wife did it, but very possible Mr. Laudermilk did it himself. He was a painter as well..
thank you for your suggestions! and help!

 

I would suspect that's a little home decorating project. What with deer, long-tailed birds and copper, design certainly looks Mexican-inspired. That central foliate motif may be an abstract agave plant used to create a tree of life. And is that a little clay pot in the lower right hand corner? Small, not a clue as to what lidded box would have been used for originally. As to age... 1940s would work.

Debora

 

Thank you! Yes this is what I was leaning to, Mexican folk art. This couple were in Mexico in the 30's 40's and they were both artistic, so I felt with the choice of box that it was an "early" upcycle / recycle. I think what threw me off was the choice of muslin to cover box. But with the information regarding the box, it makes sense.. Thank you all!!!